Should you use a long headline or a short headline in your
marketing materials?

Which one really works best?

Well, there are solid arguments for using both. And many
marketers DO use both types of headlines successfully. Of
course, you could always split-test both long and short
headlines. But in the end, it doesn't really matter anyway
because in marketing, it's all about what works best for you.

What's the most effective number to use when pricing your
product or service? $39.95, $39.99, $39.77, $37.00?

Some experts claim using the number 7 will dramatically
increase your sales and conversion ratio.

However, in his article, "The Truth About The Fallacy Of 7" Dean
Phillips strongly disagrees with that assessment. Dean writes:
"Almost without exception, every infomercial I've watched over
the years, regardless of the product, have prices that end with
a five or a nine. For example, $29.95, $39.99, $249.95. The
number "7" may be lucky in dice, but in marketing, it's just
another number!"

Is Dean right?

With all due respect to Mr. Phillips, I think he's missing the
point. It really doesn't matter what has worked in the past or
is currently working for someone else. In marketing, it's all
about what works best for you.

It has long been determined, blue is the best color to use
for your website. The color blue is supposed to have a calming
influence over visitors to your website, making them more
receptive to your offer. Certain shades of blue indicate
dependability, making it a good color for business ads. Blue is
also associated with authority and dependability, and is a
popular color for uniforms, worn by police officers, mail
carriers, security guards and other officials.

With that in mind, I used the color blue when I built my
website. However, while doing research for this article, I also
discovered some of the most successful Internet Marketing
websites don't use blue at all... Websites like Addme.com,
Knowthis.com and Marketingterms.com.

Proving once again in marketing, it's all about what works best
for you.

Some experts claim having an attractive website will help
you sell more products. But Mark Daoust of Site-reference.com
discovered something interesting, before he built his website.
In his article, "The Surprising Truth About Ugly Websites" Mark writes:

"I was struck by an example of just how effective ugly websites
can be this past week as I was browsing through some web related
news. I stumbled across the story of Plenty of Fish. This is a
very plain looking website that offers a free online dating
service much like Match.com (but without the subscription fee).

There was nothing specifically impressive about the website that
stood out to me, in fact the site was actually rather ugly.
What caused me (and I am sure several other people) to take a
second look at the website was its reported earnings. It is
reported that this website brings in over $10,000 from Adsense –
in one day. Yes, you did read that correctly. For those of you
counting, that is $300,000 per month and nearly one million
dollars in just three months.

The example of Plenty of Fish lead me to consider how an ugly
website could be so successful. As I looked around, I suddenly
realized that this was not the only successful ugly website.
Ebay is unbelievably ugly, Craigslist has never won an award for
innovative design, and IMDB has never even bothered to format
their text out of the default Times New Roman."

I'd like to add something relative to Mark's statement.
Selfpromotion.com has one of the ugliest websites I've ever
seen. The website is nothing but pages and pages of black text
on a white background. Ugly and boring. Yet, the website has been
extremely successful for years.

In closing, you should always respect proven, time-tested
marketing methods and strategies. But that doesn't mean you have
to necessarily go along with the staus quo either. Because in
marketing, it ultimately comes down to, what works best for you!


Dale King is the owner of the new Internet Marketing website,
GuruKnowledge.org