"How 'Target Focusing' can
almost guarantee success
in all your promotions"
by Eric Stewart

It's Sunday afternoon and I've already redesigned two web sites this weekend as well as attended a cookout with my family. I'm just about worn out! It's been a long week, but nothing could keep me from FINALLY writing an article I've been planning to do for several months now. So let's jump right in with an explanation of "Target Focusing".

Target focusing is defined as structuring your sales piece in such a ways as to use your target's wants and desires to achieve your ultimate goal. Many people recognize this concept from copy writing. But most marketer's only use a portion of the true formula.

This concept is derived from work you should've already done prior to writing your sales piece, "Know your customer". I take it one step further and say "Know your target". The only difference between the two is that customers are not your only targets. You could be looking for affiliates, trying to get your articles published in eZines, or seeking out joint venture partners.

Regardless of your target, you still must learn their greatest wants and desires and use them to your advantage.

Consider the following story:

Let's say Jake (you will learn that Jake is my favorite antagonist marketer and while he's only fictional, he represents a surprisingly large number of people today), decided that he is going to seek out joint venture partners to assist him in selling the newest eBook he bought resale rights to.

Jake knows he needs to write a short letter to hook the potential partner into requesting more information (He's knows this because he is a marketing guru. He has read a total of 2 eBooks on marketing and sold a whopping 55 products this year, apparently these are the only requirements for attaining this beloved status.). He then sits down and crafts the following email.

"Dear Sir/Ma'am,

I am writing you this short email in order to offer you the chance to make thousands of dollars this weekend!(That'll get their attention).

I would like to offer you a whopping 25% of all the sales that are made by subscribers from your list (I can't believe how generous I'm being. I was only going to offer 15%). All you have to do is run an ad for my product in your eZine.

You can find out about the product at www.someurl.scam and if you would like to read it, I would be more than happy to give it to you at half off the printed price. (Giving him the product at half off was a pretty good touch, if I do say so myself.)

I know you and your subscribers will be thrilled with the product.

Jake"

Now many of you are think that no one would write such a letter. But there are just as many people who KNOW I'm right because they have gotten almost the exact same word-for-word email from other people.

Let talk about how Jake failed to use target focusing in his email.

The first thing you must do is get into the mind of your target. Say to yourself, "I am the newsletter editor receiving this email. What kind of things would I want to hear that would convince me to take part."

" Don't tell me I'm going to make thousands of dollars. Give me examples of exactly what I can expect to make." Jake needs to give accurate examples of what the editor can expect when running this promotion. Jake could say that his web site has a visitor value of $1.25, which means that every person he sends to the web site will be worth $1.25 in sales. So if the editor sends 300 people, he would make $375 dollars. If he sends 1300 people to the site he would make $1625. That's focusing on the editors pocket book.

" Don't tell me to read your sales letter and order your product." The editor shouldn't have to read your entire sales letter and he should never have to pay anything to review your product. All the sudden this email looks more like and advertisement than a joint venture opportunity. Give it to him free and make it easy for him to receive.

Many newsletter editors won't promote a product unless they already tried it out first. It's a common courtesy to their subscribers and it insures that the subscribers will be responsive to his offers. Knowing that you must get your product into the newsletter editor's hands as quickly as possible and with no expense on their part. This focuses on the editor's lack of time and his pocket book.

" What? I'm only going to get 25% of the profits? Are you crazy?" Jake has failed to address all the time and effort the editor has put into building and cultivating his subscriber list. An offer of 25% is usually considered a slap in the face. Jake should've have offered something in the neighborhood of 60% but more likely 75 or 80%. This focuses on the editor's pocket book.

" How much work am I going to have to do to make this money? Am I going to have to write the ad? Am I going to have to set-up my own affiliate site? What exactly am I going to have to do?"

Last but not least, Jake hasn't explained that there will be no work required on the editor's part. He should have mentioned that he's already written a "proven" ad. The web site is already set-up to accept his subscribers. And the editor simply needs to send out the ad and wait for Jake to send him a commission check. This is focusing on the editor's lack of time and pocket book.

By now you should have spotted a trend in newsletter editors. They don't want to work very hard in putting together a promotion. They want a large cut of the profits. And they don't want to deal with the sales process at all. By tailoring our sales piece to these focus points, you will dramatically increase the number of people who respond to your offer.

Now keep in mind that this is just one example of target focusing at work. Every single time you are writing an email, a sales letter, or any other kind of promotion, you should be target focusing the piece.

You need to get into your targets mind. Find out what triggers their response. Then craft a message that gives the target no one option but to respond to your offer. They have to think, "Wow, this exactly what I'm looking for. This addresses my biggest problems with his kind of product/service."

Start doing this now and you'll be target focusing like a champ in no time!

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