I want you to visualize yourself in a Las Vegas casino. Picture say 5-7 Las Vegas waitresses “aimlessly” drifting in and out of the aisles of slot machines offering free drinks to casino patrons. Casino Hotels on The Vegas Strip provide “free” drinks that taste good; they are NOT watered down. The staff makes you feel secure, “warm, and fuzzy” by talking WITH you, smiling, and answering questions. They are helpful, informative, and, most important, laid back; their job is to make you feel safe enough to continue pushing your quarters into Vegas coin collectors (AKA slot machines)! In a previous article, I drew an analogy between free drinks in casinos and free “reports” on the Internet. Both are part of a sales plan that lures leads, converts prospects, and closes sales within a big bubble of warm, fuzzy goodwill. This bubble of receptivity is the goal of successful online businesses.

The average visitor to Las Vegas “spends” LOTS of money in addition to paying for their hotel and food; remember the drinks are FREE! What is insightful though is that visitors leave feeling they had a GREAT time and “got their money’s worth”; they can’t wait for a return trip. blue meanie mushroom The desire for a repeat “experience” is the same goal for successful online businesses! Remember the credibility and perceived value “bubble” I mentioned above? It’s fragile. The hotel casinos on The Vegas Strip provide real entertainment value; they don’t promise more than they can deliver and they don’t short-change their patrons! In writing articles and/or selling products/services, especially online, you will have REAL success if you consistently add REAL value to your line of business.

Plan a sales campaign as if it were a dinner party; each course during the evening builds to a triumphant dining “experience”. A single party theme is supported by many complementary “courses” leading to a climactic end; closing the sale! Articles written by and for marketers are individual 500-1000 word “calls to action” implementing single objectives toward achieving long-term goals. Sometimes it’s more effective to “whisper” those calls rather than repeatedly shout them at your reader! Write good quality copy rather than empty, “watered-down”, plagiarized/derivative text; articles need to focus on a single theme/objective and remain “on YOUR point”. A good quality article subtly lowers the “free” line by giving away bits of value-added information. They are hoer oeuvres’ that prepare sales prospects for the main entrée whether it is software, services, or a 100-page EBook.

“Whisper” articles distinguish your online product/service “calls to action” from others by building a bubble of receptivity around perceived quality; remember the service Las Vegas Strip hotels provide to their patrons. Those hotels and your articles build bubbles of goodwill within which your persuasive/marketing powers rule. Free articles offer worthwhile information that directly bolsters your reputation and credibility as an author; revenue dollars are a secondary consideration! Since articles focus on long-term relationship rather than a single “sale”, avoid reminding your reader about your money-driven motives with some blatant sales pitch. Doesn’t it feel so much better to finish dessert and take a moment to savor the dining experience before you look at the check? It’s the same for your readers. Place your self-serving, marketing information, AKA your “goodbye”, in the resource box at the bottom of your article. Leave your readers with a hunger for a return trip to Vegas, for yet another experience, for more to come.