The other day, I was asked the following question:

“Why should the author of a product be included in their sales copy? Specifically, why do my readers need to know who I am or what I bring to the table? How does telling them my qualifications (or lack thereof) increase the strength of my copy?”

The author of the question then went on to say:

“My product solves a medical condition. But I am not a doctor and I have never had this condition myself. I’ve spent a year researching the best method to cure this condition. I have a list of 20,000 people with this condition and converse with them a lot. I know pretty much everything there is to know about this condition and have made it into an ebook.”

The answer is quite simple actually. In fact, in defending himself (i.e., that he’s not a doctor) the questioner answered his own question. Let me explain…

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My recent article about Facebook not being a viable marketing tool has created quite a stir.

Many people agreed with me. But some people didn’t, and I respect that. However, while a few were scathing and harsh in their remarks, others posted some excellent rebuttals on their own blogs.

This topic seems to be as controversial as the long-versus-short-copy debate in copywriting circles. Déjà -vu? Well, it’s no wonder because, just like the copy length debate, both sides are right.

It all depends on how you use them and with whom.

That’s why I agree with most of Facebook’s proponents. That might sound like a contradiction, but I believe it’s because many misunderstood my post. So I wanted to take a moment before hopping on the plane to clarify a few things.

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Facebook is growing by leaps and bounds. If you don’t know what Facebook is, it’s a social networking site much like MySpace, but with a lot more control, flexibility, and verstility. (Check out my profile.)

But after testing it for a while, I’ve concluded that it’s not a viable marketing tool. At least, not for me. There are two reasons why using Web 2.0 social-driven sites to make money (or to drive targeted traffic) is not viable.

First, and more importantly, it’s labor-intensive. It’s a full-time affair.

I don’t pretend to be a social marketing expert by any stretch. And I’m sure that, if you are a social site junkie, you can find some pretty creative ways for using them to generate massive amounts of traffic. Some already have.

But for me, my business, and my specific target market, and like many social networking sites out there, it’s a waste of time. So if you’re not prepared on working it extensively and religiously, then I discommend it.

However, nothing stops you from outsourcing the legwork, if you’re so inclined. But there’s another good reason why I don’t recommend it…

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Competition is a “killer” for a lot of commodity businesses. Doesn’t really matter whether you market online or offline. If you sell a commodity product then chances are you compete for customers with hundreds of other businesses.

In the next few minutes, I’m going to share with you a proven strategy to…

Out-Market, Out-Sell And Out-Profit…

… Just about anyone in your industry or business category.

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To celebrate Independence Day, including the independence from being a slave to your business, I wanted to pass this very special note to you.

As you probably know, for close to a decade my wife, Sylvie Fortin, owns an outsourcing and project fulfillment services company, Workaholics4Hire, Inc. Her client list reads like a venerable who’s who in the marketing world.

Recognizable names include Shawn Casey, Yanik Silver, Frank Kern, and many more (including yours truly), who use her services regularly and have done so for many years. (For instance, her company was featured in John Reese’s Traffic Secrets, in the “Outsourcing Mastery” video.)

Her company offers a variety of services to fit most outsourcing needs that allow you to focus on growing your business rather than micro-managing it…

… From conducting research, creating products, and designing websites, all the way to handling emails, managing customer support, setting up PPC ad campaigns, ghostwriting articles, and much more.

Well, I don’t normally talk about my wife’s services (her doors have been closed to the public for a long time), but just recently she changed her business model RADICALLY. (And it’s not what you think.)

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As a copywriter, one of the most important parts of my job is conducting research. And in fact, when my copy fails, aside from poor targeting or a poor offer, it’s almost always due to poor research.

As copywriters, the information we need may not be as readily available as we want it to be, particularly when we’re working with a new company or product. We have to dig. Or as my friend and top copywriter John Carlton says, “We have to put on our sales detective hats and dig deep.”

Sure, we can go through the product. We can go through the client’s collateral materials. We can conduct competitive research and perhaps even check out competitors’ products.

But the most important and salient research comes from…

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Some of the tests results I love to follow are those from The Poynter Institute. Their eyetracking studies are some of the largest ever conducted in this space.

While their tests are primarily done for, and funded by, major newspapers, their studies are incredibly revealing nonetheless. For instance, they've tested how readers read stories in three different formats: tabloid-style (folded vertically), broadsheet (larger size, folded horizontally), and online.

Of course, my interest is certainly focused on the online version. But their newspaper studies are very revealing in terms of what captures people's attention, how they read, and how much of it they do read.

Their website has come out with five key findings. (Their full report is due out in a few more weeks from now.) But let's take a closer look at these findings, and my interpretation of what they mean for the web.

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