Today we want to talk about testing. Testing is the process you use to try to figure out which headline or which price is the best for a product you are selling.

Testing
Testing is a messy process at best (I’ll explain why in a bit of detail below). It is open-ended in that you can test forever and never really come to the end. The big players in direct marketing, indeed in all marketing, test all the time. The really big players are those who have turned testing into an art form.

When you test you simply, for example, produce the same sales letter with two different headlines. You run one for perhaps one week and the other for the same length of time, then compare results. Which one produced the greater number of sales or the greater profits (it’s a bit more complicated, as we shall see below, but we have to start somewhere)?

Here are some things the gurus test:

• Headlines
  • wording and phrasing
  • fonts – type faces
  • font colours
  • quotation marks
  • alignment – left-centre-right
  • justification

• Images
  • number of images
  • choices of subjects
  • captions
  • locations vis-?-vis text

• Body of text
  • wording and phrasing
  • fonts
  • font colours
  • alignment
  • justification
  • paragraph structures
  • paragraph sizes - numbers of lines
  • breaks between paragraphs
  • punctuation
  • questions

• Sub-headlines
  • number and location
  • wording and phrasing
  • fonts - type faces
  • font colours
  • quotation marks
  • alignment
  • justification

• Background and borders
  • colours
  • images
  • thicknesses and styles of borders
  • with or
    Knowing Who Your Ideal Clients Are
    Have you taken the time to decide and understand who your ideal clients are?Thank about the clients that you currently have that you are excited about and enjoy working with.When you take the time to identify the qualities of your ideal clients, then you will it will allow you to only work with clients that excite and motivate you.What are some of the questions you ask about to figure out who your ideal clients are?What are the benefits of working with my ideal clients? What qualities do my ideal clients have.After you have listed the benefits of working with your ideal clients. Try and work with clients who have at least 75% of the characteristics of your ideal clients.Example:The bene
    est all the time. The really big players are those who have turned testing into an art form.

    When you test you simply, for example, produce the same sales letter with two different headlines. You run one for perhaps one week and the other for the same length of time, then compare results. Which one produced the greater number of sales or the greater profits (it’s a bit more complicated, as we shall see below, but we have to start somewhere)?

    Here are some things the gurus test:

    • Headlines
      • wording and phrasing
      • fonts – type faces
      • font colours
      • quotation marks
      • alignment – left-centre-right
      • justification
    • Images
      • number of images
      • choices of subjects
      • captions
      • locations vis-?-vis text
    • Body of text
      • wording and phrasing
      • fonts
      • font colours
      • alignment
      • justification
      • paragraph structures
      • paragraph sizes - numbers of lines
      • breaks between paragraphs
      • punctuation
      • questions
    • Sub-headlines
      • number and location
      • wording and phrasing
      • fonts - type faces
      • font colours
      • quotation marks
      • alignment
      • justification
    • Background and borders
      • colours
      • images
      • thicknesses and styles of borders
      • with o
        The Dilemma of Nanotechnology - Science vs. Ethics
        What is Nanotechnology and why should I care about it?Nanotechnology, referred to commonly as molecular manufacturing, is making huge strides within scientific and government communities. Despite its growth and the potential impact it will have on society at large, too little emphasis has been placed on the ethical considerations of nanotechnology and the ever-rippling effects of its applications.The control of molecular matter has led to amazing breakthroughs in medical treatments, which of course is a benefit to mankind. However, the military is hard at work creating powerful weapons that are no larger than any known bacteria. In addition, molecular level surveillance techniques for surreptitiously keeping track of othe
        somewhere)?

        Here are some things the gurus test:

        • Headlines
          • wording and phrasing
          • fonts – type faces
          • font colours
          • quotation marks
          • alignment – left-centre-right
          • justification
        • Images
          • number of images
          • choices of subjects
          • captions
          • locations vis-?-vis text
        • Body of text
          • wording and phrasing
          • fonts
          • font colours
          • alignment
          • justification
          • paragraph structures
          • paragraph sizes - numbers of lines
          • breaks between paragraphs
          • punctuation
          • questions
        • Sub-headlines
          • number and location
          • wording and phrasing
          • fonts - type faces
          • font colours
          • quotation marks
          • alignment
          • justification
        • Background and borders
          • colours
          • images
          • thicknesses and styles of borders
          • with o
            Why Designing the Right Business Logo Matters So Much for Branding, Customer Loyalty and Success
            The right business logo is arguably the most important element available to represent a business, especially in today's online world, where first impressions are everything. Designing the right business logo is often the first step in properly branding a company and its products.The company logo becomes an integral, indelible aspect of a company's identity within its markets. A company's logo creates the first impression people will have of the business. It's the most important graphic image a company owns, one that summarizes and represents the business - to employees, partners and most importantly of all, to customers. A well designed business logo is an unmistakable sign of a company's strength, its self-image, the scope of
          • locations vis-?-vis text
        • Body of text
          • wording and phrasing
          • fonts
          • font colours
          • alignment
          • justification
          • paragraph structures
          • paragraph sizes - numbers of lines
          • breaks between paragraphs
          • punctuation
          • questions
        • Sub-headlines
          • number and location
          • wording and phrasing
          • fonts - type faces
          • font colours
          • quotation marks
          • alignment
          • justification
        • Background and borders
          • colours
          • images
          • thicknesses and styles of borders
          • with o
            Cash Flow Management Made Easy
            Small business owners soon learn that Cash Flow and Profit are not one and the same thing. The two may be related but are not always in concert. There can be high profits reported during a period of extremely tight cash flow and low profits reported during a cash rich period.Profitability is based on invoicing and the relationship of costs, either expended or accrued, to those sales. The actual payment of expenses or receipt of invoice payments can, and often do, occur in periods different that when the sales occurred, so that cash flow can be widely different from reported profit in any period.Cash Flow is based on changes in cash balance and can be affected by changes in assets that don’t affect profitability. Allowing inv
          • Sub-headlines
            • number and location
            • wording and phrasing
            • fonts - type faces
            • font colours
            • quotation marks
            • alignment
            • justification
          • Background and borders
            • colours
            • images
            • thicknesses and styles of borders
            • with or without borders
          • Testimonials
            • numbers of testimonials
            • locations
            • backgrounds and borders
          • Signature and signature colour
          • Postscripts
            • numbers of postscripts
            • subjects
          • Bonus offers
            • numbers of bonus offers
            • pricing
            • time limits for extra bonuses
          • Product price
            • price
            • locations of price within body of letter
            • time limits for discounts
            • number of times price is stated
          • Opportunities to order
            • location of order buttons or links
            • wording – ‘Reserve yours NOW!’ or ‘To book your DVD set click here NOW!’ for example
            • numbers of order buttons
          • Cover letters – style and content
          • ‘Lift letters’ – style and content
          • Order envelopes - Freepost or stamped
          • Colour and texture of sales letter paper
          
          

          We could probably add at least this number to our list, but this will do for now. My point is that every bit of the appearance, tone and content of sales letters and web pages is tested continually by the pros in direct marketing.

          And probably the most fascinating aspect of testing is that much of it is not obvious. Why is it that a blue signature results in more sales than a black signature? Why is it that a headline with quotation marks around it pulls better than one without? Why is it that a sales letter with a PS, PPS and PPPS tests better than one with only a P