The great thing about using greeting cards in business is that you can use them for any reason; a customer’s birthday, a holiday, as a thank you, or just for fun. Recently, I sent out a greeting card for my birthday, offering my list a gift because it was my birthday. Definitely a twist, but folks liked it and response was very good!

I have received a number of fun greeting cards over the years and today I want to share with you a few unique ways you can send greeting cards to your customers, prospects, patients, or clients. You may even be able to grab a few ideas for the upcoming holidays of Easter, Passover, and Earth Day!

Use Handwriting Fonts to Personalize Your Message!

If you’re sending out a number of cards to your list during the holidays, hand writing each and every single one could take a very long time. A great way to personalize your cards is to use handwriting fonts or our own brand of handwriting fonts, CopyFonts.

The below card I received this past Thanksgiving from David Cathers. He used one of our Punch-Out CopyComics on the front of the card and then typed up a message using one of our CopyFonts for an attention-getting, fun and personal note.

Use CopyDoodles to Make Your Cards Stand Out!

Strategically placing CopyDoodles throughout your greeting cards will not only capture your readers’ attention, but they will make your cards more fun as you can see in the below Birthday card created via SendOutCards.

The below card has a mix of CopyComics, CopyStamps, and CopyDoodles.

There are a number of card-specific CopyDoodles that can be found in the ExpressionDoodles collection in the CopyDoodles Access Club.

To access them:
1. Log into the CopyDoodles Access Club
2. Hover over CopyDoodles and choose “ExpressionDoodles” from the drop down menu
3. Start using all of the great greeting card doodles today!

Not a member of the CopyDoodles Access Club, but want to add these GREAT personalized, handwritten graphics to your cards? Find out more about becoming a member at www.copydoodles.com!

Use CopyComics to Add Humor!

CopyComics are royalty-free comics we’ve created for CopyDoodles Access Club members and they are great images for all your cards no matter the occasion. Since you can easily change the taglines on the bottoms of all the comics, you can create birthday cards, thank you cards, holiday cards, and more with your own message (or even with your recipient’s name in the tagline)!

The images are then perfect for the front of the card, like the birthday card I received last week from CopyDoodles user, Alan Steacy, or even for the inside of the card.

Send Die-Cut Cards to Ensure a Card Like No Other!

Die-cut cards will definitely look different than any of the other cards your recipient receives, especially during the holidays and during birthday when they may be receiving a number of different cards and messages in the mail.

The below card was created by Mike Schnitzius of Mikel Mailings as a thank you card this past thanksgiving. As you can see, the front of the card looks like two doors, which you then open and can see the message inside, written and personalized with one of our CopyFonts.

These are just a few of the many great greeting cards I have received recently. To view a recent CopyDoodles TV Episode on using greeting cards in your business visit:

http://www.mikecapuzzi.com/tv/tips-for-creating-outstanding-business-greeting-cards-cdtv-episode/

AND, since Mike’s away this week at InfusionCon in Arizona in the nice warm weather, your CopyDoodles Success Coach Lauren is giving you a very special offer, only catch, don’t tell Mike! Just check out the above episode of CopyDoodles TV to find out exactly what she’s giving you. Let’s just say it’s a deal you don’t want to miss — two great products for the price of ONE!

To download a PDF of several different examples and ideas, visit:

http://copydoodles.info/blog/Greeting-Card-Examples.pdf

Some helpful hints and tips for printing greeting cards:

• Use SendOutCards – many of the above cards are printed using www.sendoutcards.com and using CopyDoodled images and fonts
• For die cut cards like the above Thanksgiving Day feast card, we use Mike Schnitzius of Mikel Mailings here in Downingtown, PA. You can also get a small selection of die cut postcards and prints at online printers such as www.gotprint.com
• Make your own! – You can get greeting card kits at office supply stores and print from your home or office printer and get great results. This is perfect if you’re only sending out a few cards for birthdays or as thank yous

Have you used greeting cards in your business? If so, what types of holidays, events, or more did you send them out for? Please leave all your comments below.

Last week, I shared an article about a pretty decent display ad I recently came across.
(http://www.mikecapuzzi.com/display-ad-worthy-of-your-study-can-find-one-missing-thing)

In the article, I covered a number of things this ad did right, but I also pointed out there was one BIG thing I thought it missed and posed the question to my readers. We received a number of responses with a bunch of different ideas as to what was the BIG THING missing. Many of the answers were astute observations and definitely were not wrong answers.

The one big thing this ad and their web site fails to do is give prospects an “off-ramp” if they’re not ready to buy now (or in more simple, direct marketing language, there’s no offer for more additional information and lead capture).

This ad and web site does only one thing – SELL – which is obviously not bad, but what about the majority of prospects who may be very interested, but are not ready to buy now?

Conversely, one of my mastermind members and private client, Gardner’s Mattress and More does it right (and they’re in the same industry). Check out their web site http://gardnersmattressandmore.com and print ads and you’ll see they have off-ramps.

Think of your marketing funnel as a highway. A highway to profits, which is not just a single path with only one destination. Your highway should have several different “off-ramps” to lead different types of prospects to different destinations (calls to action).

• The first off-ramp is a way to buy now, which this ad has.
• A second off-ramp would be to ask for name and email or name and mailing address to send me additional information.
• Another off-ramp might a different product or service offering.
• And other potential off-ramps could happen after a sale is made, including upsell and downsell opportunities.

Make sense?

Of course, as marketers and business owners we would love it if everybody who reads our ads and visits our web sites bought from us. We all know this is a marketer’s fantasy. Instead, we need to realize different types of people buy differently and need to accommodate for these in our marketing and sales process.

Congratulations to Susan Lobsinger for being one of my readers who posted this big omission and was randomly selected to win a copy of the CopyDoodles Swipe File. Congrats Susan!

A few months back, I saw this ad in the newspaper and as soon as I saw it, I ripped it out and filed it to discuss as a display advertisement worthy of review. And just so there’s no confusion, I am not a customer or affiliate of MyPillow®, but I definitely think they are doing a lot of things right in this ad and everybody reading this article can be reminded of what a good advertisement contains.

However, I think there is one big missed opportunity and I’m wondering if you know what it is? Post your answer below as a comment and we’ll see who has their marketing think-cap on!

But let’s take a look at what’s right about this ad.

Attention-grabbing headline – check. I like this headline format and if you’ve ever slept on an uncomfortable pillow (and who hasn’t), it immediately resonates with you. I also like how they use copy cosmetics in the headline by using boldface and underlining to set it off even more.

Decent copy – check. I like the story-driven, “me to you” feel of the copy in this ad, even though it breaks my rule of having the copy way to focused on “I” and “me.” I did lose track of how many “I’s” are in the copy and it does point out a potential area for losing readers (and it’s not the one missing thing).

Typically, your copy should be about your reader’s needs and wants and this ad is primarily about the author, however its intent is to read as a personal letter, so I think it works. Even the way he ends the ad will re-assure and comfort many readers.

Use of photos and graphics – check. Could be a bit better by providing a caption under each photo to help reinforce the message. The “need a better night’s sleep” image is especially captivating.

Use of copy cosmetics – check. I already mentioned the headline. I also like how the add uses a bullet list, graphics and a good use of reverse print down at the bottom to set it off. A CopyDoodle® or two could have helped even more.

Guarantee – check. Not a bad guarantee. I would have suggested putting a border around the guarantee and adding a headline for the guarantee to make it stand out more.

Unique value proposition – check. The ad describes the patent and the fact the product is made entirely in the U.S. This is important to a lot of potential buyers and he’s not hiding the facts.

Deadline-based offer – check. The ad offers a 25% discount if I were to respond by a certain date. This is very good and many marketers overlook this important requirement. Remember, an offer without a deadline is not an offer!

Multiple ways to respond – check. Typically, the more ways a person can respond, the higher the response will be. Not everybody is comfortable with ordering online and by allowing those folks to order by phone, there will be no missed sales. I also like the fact they included their social media links for folks who like to connect that way.

Testimonials – no, but… Could it have used a testimonial or two? Sure, but given the space, it would have been a challenge and they are addressed in the ad by driving them to the web site to read the “thousands of testimonials.”

So all, in all, this is a very good display ad. It’s laser-focused on what it’s designed to do, which is sell pillows. Yet, I believe it’s missing something important.

Do you know what it is? If so, leave your answers below and we will randomly pick one of the correct responses and send that person the CopyDoodles Swipe File CD-ROM ($97 value). I will also post a follow-up article addressing what’s missing. Good luck!

Personally, I collect and save all the attention-grabbing “junk mail” in a swipe file box for whenever I need a unique idea or inspiration.

The classic direct mail package consists of:

• The Envelope
• The Main Letter
• The Lift Note
• The Brochure
• The Order Device

In this article, I’m going to focus on how you can use lift notes to enhance your direct mail campaigns. I’m also going to be discussing how lift notes give you the opportunity to present to and persuade your audience “in a different voice.”  According to direct mail expert, Malcolm Decker, the lift note:

“Gives another voice backing up the key salesperson”

Your salesperson would be your main letter included in the mail package.  Lift notes help you to:

• Reduce risk
• Allow a second point of view
• Strengthen credibility of offer
• Offer new benefits or a different selling point

I recently received the above package from AAA. It was a classic direct mail package with a lift note, as you can see on the left hand side, using a handwritten font and CopyDoodle like arrow.  Note the message and tone of the copy on the outside of the lift note.

When you unfold it, you see it’s a testimonial from a AAA member. This testimonial helps to reduce the risk of the offer since its discussing AAA service from the voice of a satisfied member.

The above are two examples of a traditional lift note. On the left, there’s a photo of the person who wrote the lift note. This person could be well-known to the target audience, a happy customer, or in this case the president of the organization.

A few years ago, I held a workshop.  In the marketing funnel to fill the workshop were several direct mail packages, one of which included a lift note from Bill Glazer. Bill was going to be speaking at my workshop and he wrote about why he was traveling up to speak and why the recipient should attend the workshop.  It was basically a testimonial about me from a well-respected marketing expert.

Here are a few design tips to keep in mind when creating your own lift notes:

• Format – What type of format are you going to use? Is it a letter, a memo, a list of benefits…
• Size – Typically a lift note is smaller than your letter and it’s meant to look different when sent in your direct mail package
• Color of your paper and ink – Typically a lift note is on different colored paper so it stands out, you may even use a different colored ink from the main sales letter
•  Images and photos – Think about how you can use images and photos like the examples I have shown above with the image of the man who wrote the testimonial on the yellow paper and the cartoon of Bill Glazer I used
• Fold – Is it a tent fold, card fold, or do you even fold your lift note at all?
• CopyDoodles – Where will you use CopyDoodles and how will you use them? They’re a great way to grab attention
• Comics – You may want to use comics on your lift note to grab more attention
• Personalization – Will you personalize this to someone or have it signed by the person who wrote it?

Lift notes are not just for direct mailings anymore!  You can use the concept of lift notes in your email too. Here are two examples of ways you can use lift notes in your email follow-up sequences.

• “FW:” email – you could take your lift note you’ve created written from a customer or someone like Bill Glazer and actually FORWARD (FW) the lift note as an email to prospects in your sequence. You would put the body of the lift note in the body of the email and then send it as is with your subject line being something like: “FW: A Personal Message From Bill Glazer.”

• Create a PDF or JPG attachment and actually attach the lift note to your email so readers can open it up as they’re reading your email

If you’d like to easily create lift notes for your online or offline marketing campaigns, check out the Lift Note CopyTemplate I recently created for the CopyDoodles Access Club.

This CopyTemplate includes everything you need to create your own lift notes in minutes (Platinum Member Access only).  If you’re not a member of the CopyDoodles Access Club simply head over to http://www.copydoodles.com to view our Platinum Membership option and get instant access to this template along with all of our CopyDoodles, CopyComics, and more.

If you’re a member of the CopyDoodles Access Club, but not a Platinum Member and would like access to this template, simply log into the Access Club and select Membership Options on the left hand side to upgrade your membership.

Interested in finding out more about different ways you can improve your direct mail? Check out the replay of a webinar I just did with Ethan Boldt, Chief Content Officer for DirectMarketingIQ, “15 Smart & Easy Ways to Boost Your Response with Direct Mail.”

Click Here to Watch this Valuable Replay Now!

Have you used lift notes in the past or seen any great examples of lift notes used? I’d love to hear about them below!

These personalized gift certificates are big attention-grabbers because they look unique and powerful response-boosters because they are personalized to the person receiving it (who can resist not wanting to use a personalized certificate?).  Let me show you a few ways you can use the idea of a personalized certificate in your own marketing.

Smart Idea #1: Attract New Customers!

Whether you own a brick and mortar business or an online business, you can use a tactic like the Savings Certificate above to get prospective customers to make their first purchase. You can customize a gift certificate and send it to them in the mail, email or on a web site and each of these three scenarios, you can personalize the certificate for the recipient!

Here’s something you can try… create a gift certificate as an email optin offer on your web site.   Show the certificate in your opt in page so people know what to expect when they opt in.  Then as soon as they opt in, you can display the certificate on the thank you page and personalize it by inserting the person’s name right on the certificate image.  All the recipient has to do is print it off and bring into your location. Now this might sound complicated, but it’s really not and any savvy web person can do this for you easily (and inexpensively).

Or if you prefer direct mail, create a letter or postcard with the personalized certificate front and center on your mail piece.

Smart Idea #2: Get People to Your Event or Location

In this case, I tweaked the gift certificate and made it a personalized raffle ticket for the individual to bring to an event I was hosting.  Again, I can use this strategy either in a direct mail campaign or email campaign and in both cases I can personalize the raffle ticket to make it more irresistible for the recipient to use.  A strategy like this can have a positive impact on your attendee show-up rate!

Smart Idea #3: Customer Birthday/Appreciation Gift:

My final smart idea for you is to use personalized birthday gift certificates, like the one above.  If you collect the birthdays of your customers, you can easily create a system that sends out mail or email for the birthday gift automatically.

Who could resist redeeming a special birthday gift like this, especially when you created it just for them!

If you’re sending out “generic” type of marketing, consider how you can start tapping into the power of personalization, which you can easily do yourself.  To see a short video where I show you how simple it is to use Microsoft Word to personalize these certificates, check out this tutorial video.

If you want the above certificate images (plus several others), all you need to do is become a SMART Ideas subscriber!   These certificate images are available for a limited time as a BONUS for joining the SMART Ideas family. The SMART Ideas newsletter is all about savvy marketing and response tools and ideas for business owners and marketers around the world!

It’s the only newsletter publication I’m aware of that not only shows you what to do, but also gives you the files, copy, templates and more to implement them!  This means you can take the ideas I share in each issue and literally implement them quickly and easily by using the templates and content included with your monthly subscription!

And you can get the premier issue of SMART Ideas for just $5 until February 29, 2012 (including these graphics and a whole lot more)!

To grab this amazing offer, visit www.mikecapuzzi.com/smartideas

Leap year is the time to come up with unique marketing strategies that capture your audience’s attention and freeze them in their tracks. In today’s post, I’m going to give you some Leap Year marketing ideas you can use starting right now.

I’m also going to tell you about a few special items to make those ideas even more amazing. This is Part 2 of this article and yesterday we will be posted Part 1, which contains even more Leap Year Marketing ideas you can start using!

Leap Year Idea: Throw a “Once Every Four Years” Leap Year Party!

Whether you have an online business or a brick and mortar store, throwing a party is a great way to connect with customers and prospects on a more personal level so they can get to know you, like you, trust you, and want to purchase from you!

Here are a few examples of the types of parties you can have:

If you’re a pizzeria or a restaurant you can throw an in store pizza party with free samples “slices” (1/4 the size of a regular slice for Leap Year). You can also give your customers a discount of 1/4 less (or 25% off) all orders when they come in.

Or, to have a little fun with it and be different, you can give your customers 1/4 of their pizza with free toppings, whether you discount the price of toppings 25% or top only 1/4 of their pizza with what they request and the rest is cheese, this is just a fun way to play around with the holiday.

If you have a retail store or boutique, throw a “Roll Back the Clocks to the Last Leap Year” party! Play music from 2008 at your party and have store associates help pick out new items for customers.

You could have customers bring in unwanted clothing from 2008 (or any year) and you could donate all those items to charity, and give customers 25% off all new purchase they make if they donate items.

This is a great way to give back to your community too (and hopefully get a little bit of free PR from it too since you’re being so generous).

If you have an online store or shop, you may think that throwing a party is impossible, but there are a few exciting ways to do it to stand out. A lot of companies are  now throwing social media parties where they ask their customers to go on their Facebook and Twitter pages at a certain time and they will be there answering questions, talking about products, posting videos, and more!

You can even ask a special guest from your industry to come on to your social media pages at the same time to answer questions, while you point people to your online store.

Or, if that doesn’t work for your business, everyone can host a “Once Every Four Years” webinar! This could be a special free webinar “Leap Year Party” with an important guest, or a free gift at the end, or it could even be a demo of the products, items, or services you sell.

Make sure to have fun with this though by sending out party invitations to invite people to your webinar instead of the same boring webinar invites they normally receive and you’ll really stand out!

To enhance all of these ideas, we’ve add a boatload of new Leap Year CopyDoodles and CopyComics into the CopyDoodles Access Club, as you can see below.

These would be a great addition to any of the above ideas to generate even more attention towards your promotions and sales.

To access these Leap Year items, simply log in to the CopyDoodles Access Club and search for the keyword “leap year.”  If you’re not a member, simply head over to www.copydoodles.com and check out our brand new website with new membership options!

Also, make sure to check out my BRAND NEW print newsletter, SMART Ideas, which is packed full of valuable marketing ideas and tips you can start using immediately.

Right now, you can get the first issue for only $5 if you’re here in the US, or $10 if you’re International (due to the differences in shipping).

In the newsletter you’ll not only get access to a ton of awesome marketing ideas, but it includes my list if Leap Year Marketing Phrases you can use to come up with interesting slogans, sayings, and more.

Find out more about SMART Ideas at www.mikecapuzzi.com/smartideas.

I’d love to hear the type of marketing you’re doing for Leap Year, so please leave all comments below!

Happy Leap Year!

Leap year is the perfect opportunity to come up with unique marketing strategies that capture your audience’s attention. In today’s post, I’m going to give you a few Leap Year marketing ideas you can use starting right now.

I’m also going to tell you about a few special items to make those ideas even more amazing. This is Part 1 of this article and tomorrow we will be posting Part 2 which contains even more Leap Year Marketing ideas you can start using!

Leap Year Idea #1: Gift Certificates

Send a gift certificate to your list stating you’re passing the extra day of sales on to them as savings (you can even get a gift certificate template in my brand new SMART Ideas print newsletter).

This gift certificate can be for any amount you like – $4 for Leap Year, $10, $15. It’s just to thank you customers and let them know you’re giving back to them for being so great.

Leap Year Idea #2: Mystery Gifts

On Leap Year, give all your customers who purchase a special “Once Every Four Years” surprise/mystery gift. A lot of companies are capitalizing on this because people are always interested in mystery and want to know, “What am I going to get?”

Whether it’s a special gift promoting your company, a T-shirt, a gift card, or a small gift, customers love the intrigue.

To enhance all of these ideas, we’ve add a boatload of new Leap Year CopyDoodles and CopyComics into the CopyDoodles Access Club, as you can see below.

These would be a great addition to any of the above ideas to generate even more attention towards your promotions and sales.

To access these Leap Year items, simply log in to the CopyDoodles Access Club and search for the keyword “leap year.” If you’re not a member, simply head over to www.copydoodles.com and check out our brand new website with new membership options!

Also, make sure to check out my BRAND NEW print newsletter, SMART Ideas, which is packed full of valuable marketing ideas and tips you can start using immediately.

Right now, you can get the first issue for only $5 if you’re here in the US, or $10 if you’re International (due to the differences in shipping).

In the newsletter you’ll not only get access to a ton of awesome marketing ideas, but it includes my list if Leap Year Marketing Phrases you can use to come up with interesting slogans, sayings, and more. You can even get a gift certificate template (to use for idea #1) completely done for you as you can see below:

Find out more about SMART Ideas at www.mikecapuzzi.com/smartideas.

I’d love to hear the type of marketing you’re doing for Leap Year, so please leave all comments below!

Happy Leap Year!

And just in case you did miss that article, a webinar is typically a live video and audio presentation where attendees can see your computer screen and hear you talk as you navigate through a presentation, “how to” demonstration or anything else you’re showing on your computer. They also provide a rich participation environment and give you the flexibility to provide:

• Handouts before or after the webinar
• the ability for attendees to ask questions during the presentation
• live chat with the organizer or other participants
• live attendee polls for getting instant feedback
• automatic follow-up marketing to attendees and even non-attendees

Today’s webinar technology allows you to host LIVE webinars or RECORDED webinars that can be played on-demand or on some type of pre-determined schedule. And before you think you cannot use webinars in your business or think they are too complicated, I want you to know neither of these thoughts is correct and to prove my point, I’m going to describe four ways, four different types of online business owners can use webinars to generate or reinforce their business relationships and create more sales. Think about your own business and how you might be able to use webinars as you read through these scenarios.

Scenario #1: Diet & Health Author – Selling Digital Cookbooks Online
An ebook author could use webinars in several different ways to promote her ebooks. She could host virtual cooking classes for a fee where they show attendees how to make healthy meals. In this scenario, they could show videos or photos of how the food is prepared. She could allow real-time interaction and questions and answers from her paid attendees.

Scenario #2: SEO Expert – Lead Generation and Training Course
An SEO expert could use webinars in several different ways. He could host free, live lead generation webinars to show people how to do keyword research and then offer the opportunity to work with him as a consultant. He could also develop a 10-part course, with each part consisting of a webinar session showing a specific SEO topic. He could sell seats to the live webinars, record them and then use them in a webinar replay system that offers the 10 webinars over the course of 10 weeks in order to get additional sales.

Scenario #3: Internet/Affiliate Marketer – Promoting & Selling Products
An Internet/Affiliate Marketer could easily add webinars to drive new sales to large groups of attendees. Imagine a weekly webinar where she hosts affiliate partners on a content-rich webinar and then offers their product at the end of the webinar. Software demos and Power Point presentations work great as webinar content and are easily created.

Scenario #4: Information Marketer – Product Creation
Webinars provide a great way to create content that could be used to create print or electronic products that can be sold. An info-marketer could host a number of paid or free webinars and on each he is interviewing a guest expert on a specific topic. These webinars could be recorded and turned into videos, DVDs, books and courses.

So there you have four ideas I came up with for different types of online business owners. I know there are many others out there and the use of webinars in your business is only limited by your creativity and imagination.

To help business owners get started using webinars, I’ve created a great product called How to Boost Your Business with P.E.R.F.E.C.T. Webinars! I’ve been using webinars since 2004 and How to Boost Your Business with P.E.R.F.E.C.T. Webinars contains all the strategies, tools and techniques to create hugely profitable webinars, including my proven 7 step strategy to Plan & Promote, Engage, Record, Follow-up, Edit, Convert, and Turn a webinar into a cash machine for your business!

Start creating webinars in your business today!

A webinar is typically a live video and audio presentation where attendees can see your computer screen and hear you talk as you navigate through a presentation, “how to” demonstration or anything else you’re showing on your computer. They also provide a rich participation environment and give you the flexibility to provide:

• Handouts before or after the webinar
• The ability for attendees to ask questions during the presentation
• Live chat with the organizer or other participants
• Live attendee polls for getting instant feedback
• Automatic follow-up marketing to attendees and even non-attendees

The other good news is if you can use a computer – you can host webinars – and I cannot think of a single type of business owner who could not figure out how to host either live or recorded webinars and help strengthen their relationship with their customers, clients and prospects either in a small, 1:1 webinar or a large-scale group webinar.

Today’s webinar technology allows you to host LIVE webinars or RECORDED webinars that can be played on-demand or on some type of pre-determined schedule. And before you think you cannot use webinars in your business or think they are too complicated, I want you to know neither of these thoughts is correct and to prove my point, I’m going to describe four ways, four different types of business owners can use webinars to generate or reinforce their business relationships. Think about your own business and how you might be able to use webinars as you read through these scenarios.

Scenario #1: Restaurant Owner – Online Classes
A smart restaurant owner could use webinars in several different ways. They could host virtual cooking classes for a fee where they show attendees how to make their signature dishes. In this scenario, they could show videos or photos of how the food is prepared. Another way a restaurant owner could use webinars is to create short webinar presentations that showcase the ingredients and how carefully their signature dishes are prepared.

Scenario #2: Estate Planning Lawyer – How to Presentation
Having personally just gone through this experience and having to attend several in-office meetings to go through forms, I can envision an estate planning lawyer using webinars to walk their clients through complicated legal forms and outline the entire estate planning process either live on a monthly basis or via a webinar replay.

Scenario #3 – Real Estate Agent – Virtual Tours
In the ultra-competitive world of real estate agents, rising above the mediocre masses is critical. Imagine a forward-thinking agent who offers her clients the opportunity to learn about a number of homes without hours of driving around. A personalized presentation could be given to a client and then after they’ve narrowed down their preferences, property visits could be made.

Scenario #4: Software/Technology Sales Professional – Software Demos
The smart technology sales professional could use webinars to generate leads for their products and services. Direct mail, email marketing and social media marketing could all funnel leads into a webinar presentation quickly and easily and without ever having to jump on a plane. Software demos and Power Point presentations work great as webinar content.

So there you have four ideas I came up with for different types of offline business owners. I know there are many others out there and the use of webinars in your business is only limited by your creativity and imagination.

Stay tuned for next week’s article where I’ll discuss different ways online business owners can profit using webinars!

To help business owners get started using webinars, I’ve created a great product called How to Boost Your Business with P.E.R.F.E.C.T. Webinars! I’ve been using webinars since 2004 and How to Boost Your Business with P.E.R.F.E.C.T. Webinars contains all the strategies, tools and techniques to create hugely profitable webinars, including my proven 7 step strategy to Plan & Promote, Engage, Record, Follow-up, Edit, Convert, and Turn a webinar into a cash machine for your business!

Start creating webinars in your business today!

You may have heard the quote, “Big doors swing on little hinges,” from successful business owner and author, W. Clement Stone, in the book, The Success System That Never Fails.

It’s a great quote because it really paints the picture of what any business can do for its customers, clients, and patients. One little tweak (from your business) to someone’s life can make a world of a difference.

I love this quote so much I built a marketing campaign around it several years ago, and still use it today. I call it my “little hinge” marketing template.

As you can see above, the original marketing piece I created had an actual brass hinge attached to it, which I ordered online. The hinge helped the piece get the reader’s attention and it also made the letter a lumpy mailing piece so when people received it in the mail, they would open it immediately.

The letter went out to people who were attending a workshop I was running. I used the letter to remind them to be diligent in looking for all the tips and tricks and strategies I was going to share with them because I knew it could have a huge impact on their business.

Next is a Thank You Card that went out to people who were attending a workshop I ran. It also has the little hinge which you can see on the bottom right hand side of the card.

Again, I was reminding them to be on the lookout for key ideas attendees could pick up while at the workshop.

Recently, I attended an event where there were going to be a number of publishing agents in attendance and I wanted to make an impact so I created a business card and on the back used a little Elmer’s Rubber Cement to attach an actual brass hinge.

All of the above examples are using real brass hinges and they are very simple to attach and send or use.

If you are an online marketer, you obviously can’t use a real brass hinge, but you can do the next best thing by adding the brass hinge image and CopyComic to emails, websites, videos, and more.

This CopyTemplate is perfect for marketing where you want to point out the specific benefits of your product or service that might not be instantly obvious or for having attendees on the look-out for the big benefits of your event.

If you’d like to get access to this month’s “little hinge” CopyDoodles CopyTemplate, simply log into the CopyDoodles Access Club and you will be able to access:

• My letter template with my hinge image (if you would like to send without an actual hinge attached) and copy ready for you to edit and tweak for your business
• My envelope template with a personalized CopyComic
• My envelope template with a personalized CopyStamp
• 11 Unique CopyDoodles you can use on any “little hinge” marketing piece you create
• The resource I use for purchasing brass hinges

If you’re not yet a CopyDoodles Access Club member and would like access to this template, simply head over to our brand new for 2012 www.copydoodles.com site for more details on becoming a member.

Love the template? Have any comments? I’d love to hear them below!