Choir

“Hey man, spare some change?”

Rain or shine, the professional panhandler works a busy corner every day in my neighborhood. He sets up shop right by the ATM, on the theory that people who have just withdrawn a hundred bucks are more likely to give him a dollar or two.

The location is good, but prospecting is tough. Day in, day out, he sits on a stoop, asking people for a couple of bucks. He sees it as a numbers game – 98% of the people who pass by will say no or just ignore him, but if he asks enough people, a few will pony up.

Is panhandling effective?

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If you’re just getting started with blogging and you’re struggling to attract traffic to your site, check out this video (no opt-in required). It’s free content that explains some smart traffic attraction strategies. You can also opt-in for The Roadmap to Becoming a Blogger report.

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Copywriting for Affiliate Marketing

The big news yesterday?

Blogging is finally being taken seriously.

The Federal Trade Commission announced that they will begin going after bloggers - as well as the companies that compensate them - for any false claims or failure to disclose compensation, free gifts, and other conflicts of interest.

This isn’t really a surprise.

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Mark Zuckerberg

This weekend, my mother-in-law asked me to enter a life of crime.

Not in the real world, of course - she’d like the father of her grandkids to remain jail-free. No, instead she invited me to play that Mafia game that’s so popular on Facebook.

Not interested in the game, I politely declined. But when my mother-in-law, who has just joined Facebook, becomes part of an online trend, that’s a sure sign that it’s hitting critical mass in the population at large.

Facebook is quickly becoming the immovable object that will soon butt heads with Google’s irresistible force.

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Formula

You can write a headline in an infinite number of ways. However, certain types of headlines have proven themselves repeatedly for many years. By following the “formula” of these headlines, you can give yourself an edge when you are serious about persuading someone to read and respond to your copy.

The following 9 headline formulas are some of the easiest to write and the most powerful. When it comes time to write a headline, try one of these first. At the very least, this can give you a creative jumping off point to write a headline that works.

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Hugs

Raise your hand if you’ve heard of relationship marketing. Now keep it up if you know what it means.

Lots of hands still up, huh? OK. Fine. You, there. You with the iPhone and the I’m Kind of a Big Deal on Twitter t-shirt. What does relationship marketing mean?

Mmm hmm?

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