The 5 Selling Magic Secrets of Billy Mays

Barry A. Densa, freelance copywriter, says the late Billy Mays was a pot-bellied, black-bearded Atlantic City carnival barker in a blue long-sleeve shirt and a white undershirt. He had a loud, shrill and annoyingly exuberant voice. And he seemed to lean forward, through the TV screen, and put his nose in your face, the way only pitchmen do. Madison Avenue style brand marketers who believe asking for an order even once, unless it's in small grey type, is undignified, contemptible and just plain bad manners, absolutely loathed him. Direct marketers idolized him. Consumers, well, they either loved or hated him... or were totally unaware of him (presumably Tivo owners). Bottom line: Billy sold the hell out of stuff. And he didn't have to reinvent the wheel to do it. Billy bellied-up to bar with the TV viewer and spoke straight and to the point: you got a problem, I've got the solution, I can guarantee it or your money back, buy it now and I'll make you an even better deal. Inelegant to the max. But he sold and made millions. Not through artifice; there was no false imagery, cheating or stealing, just great showmanship and... Great Salesmanship. But great salesmanship, contrary to popular opinion, is not about selling ice to Eskimos. The truth is less flamboyant, and far more reasonable. Simply put, behind every great salesman is a great product. And Billy Mays understood that better than most. Because if it's a great product—it was easy for Billy to sell, using salesmanship techniques he had honed over two decades of selling. Who better than Billy Mays could grab your attention (Hi, Billy Mays here for...)... get you excited (So fast and easy...)... make you want to buy it (No more dings, dents or scratches—and it'll save you money, too...)... and get you to buy it (But wait, order now and I'll...) So how do you know if the product you're currently selling or developing is great and easy to sell? According to Billy Mays... To be Great and an Easy Sell Your Product Must Have These 5 Essential Character Traits 1. It must solve a problem. If it doesn't fix, mend or alleviate a nagging pain, problem, condition or situation—why would people want it, much less buy it? There must be a strong, recognizable and somewhat measurable or appreciable benefit to owning and using your product. 2. It must have mass appeal. You may have invented the best mousetrap ever, but if only one in ten million homes has a mouse problem... you're not going to sell a heck of a lot of mouse traps. Sure, you can sell just a few at a ridiculously high price-point? But a mouse-trap priced at $50,000... how easy of a sale will that be? 3. It must be unique. If it's the first or only one of its kind—that's a homerun! If it's not, then it should at least be different and beneficial in a way that isn't currently offered. A rose by any other name is still a rose—but a rose that never loses its petals, now that would be unique. 4. It must offer instant gratification. If it'll only be of use next spring, why buy it today? People don't want to buy seeds. They want the fully grown tree, planted and providing shade now. We're an impatient nation of consumers. We don't want the fishing pole—we want the fish fresh, filleted, seasoned and served. 5. It must be demonstrable. It's a law of nature: seeing is believing. The customer must see with their own eyes how easily, quickly and effectively your product does what it does. Though people will often say they can't trust their eyes—they always do. "But wait, there's more..." You Don’t Need TV Air-Time to be a Successful Marketer A demonstration doesn't have be live or on TV to be effective. If you're selling off the page, diagrams, schematics, and before and after pictures will also do the trick. And if you're not limited to a 30-second or 1-minute TV spot... you might have a distinct advantage! When you're selling off the page, you can pile on the benefits—as many as you can think of. And, you can highlight features and advantages in bullet-point after bullet-point. You can show why your product or service is superior to your competitors by creating tables. You can provide testimonials, endorsements... and your own impressive credentials. And as long as you know how to keep the reader reading you can methodically, step-by-step, convince and persuade the reader to buy from you in a voice and style that's compelling, empowering, believable and completely your own.

Millennials Are More Likely To Pay For Your Content

As the axiom goes, necessity is the mother of invention. In today's economy, that old saying has evolved: The current recession is the mother of innovation, according to Lindsay Schutte,Director of Frank N. Magid Associate's Generational Strategy Program. Media, in an effort to stop the bloodletting, is innovating straight into the pre-Internet era. The latest trend is trying to convince consumers to pay for the content they currently get online for free. Surprisingly, research conducted by Frank N. Magid Associates in June indicates that consumers are willing to pay for access to the content they enjoy. In fact, members of Gen Y are more likely to say they will spend money than Gen Xers and Baby Boomers. By most expert counts, Baby Boomers control most of the wealth in the United States. However, their attitudes towards paying for content reveal a less than ideal product target. Across every category tested, Baby Boomers were less likely than Gen Yers to say they would pay for content. For instance, 80% of Gen Yers say they would pay for music, whereas only 52% of Baby Boomers say the same. Sixty-nine percent of Gen Yers would pay for professionally produced television programming, whereas only 51% of Baby Boomers say the same. The gap narrows when it comes to news and information, 43% of Gen Yers say they would pay versus 36% of Baby Boomers -- but the gap still exists. Paying is defined as exchanging money; it does not include accepting ads for content. If charging for content is the goal, then it is imperative that Gen Yers have a seat at the table. The challenge is not in whether they will pay, but what Gen Y will pay for. There are several ways to approach the challenge. One is to put walls around your content and hope it is desired enough to warrant payment. Another approach is to evolve a current or future product into a brand that Gen Yers find indispensable. We know that Gen Yers are cost conscious, but we also know they will pay a premium if they see a concrete benefit. The product or service must solve a problem, provide exclusive access to content, or emphasizes a custom user experience. Gen Y influence is only growing -- by the end of this year they will comprise 47% of the 18-49 advertising demographic, whereas Baby Boomers will only comprise 17% of the 18-49 demo. As we ride the Gen Y wave, even more money-making opportunities are revealed. The evolution will not be easy, but it will be worth it -- just make sure you factor Gen Ys into the plan.

Court Throws Out FCC Cable Ownership Limit

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. appeals threw out a regulation that has limited cable companies to serving up to 30 percent of the country's subscription television market, a big victory for operators like Comcast Corp and Cablevision Corp. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the Federal Communications Commission's rule, adopted in late 2007, was arbitrary and capricious and vacated it. The regulation was first set in 1993 but has been repeatedly challenged. "The commission has failed to demonstrate that allowing a cable operator to serve more than 30 percent of all cable subscribers would threaten to reduce either competition or diversity in programing," the court said. The judges pointed to rising competition among video providers, including satellite companies like DirecTV Group Inc as well as telephone companies like AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc, which have been rolling out their own subscription television services. "Cable operators, therefore, no longer have the bottleneck power over programing that concerned the Congress in 1992." the court said. The FCC's cable ownership limit has been the focus of court challenges for years. The latest ruling presents a major challenge for new FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, a Democrat, who will now have to decide whether to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, try to start from scratch, or abandon the regulation altogether.