Just to get you up to speed, here are the latest marketing blog posts I’ve written on iMarketer:

• Useful Marketing ROI Calculator 
• Small Change Big Impact 2
• Small Change Big Impact
• Best Practices For Effective Email Marketing

Enjoy the read!

All success,

Jag Foo

Here’s a more advanced of multivariate testing that I prefer – the Taguchi testing.

Let me explain what’s Taguchi testing is all about.

Taguchi testing is a statistical testing method devised by a Japanese engineer, Dr Genichi Taguchi.

It uses the orthogonal array model instead of the traditional full fractional model (used by Google Website Optimizer). Now that’s all math geek speak, so I’m not going to elaborate on that.

What’s most important is that with Taguchi testing, you can reduce the number of combinations needed for testing.

For example, if you have 4 elements with 2 variations each, you will need to test 16 (2 x 2 x 2 x 2) combinations using the traditional multivariate method.

With the Taguchi method, the number of combinations needed is reduced to only 8.

That means, you can reach a reasonable conclusion in a much faster time. And with that, you also save more on advertising fees because you only need a smaller sample size.

Let’s not forget, the faster you find a successful combination, the faster you get profitable. It’s all about time and money!

The drawback is that, Taguchi testing (fractional) may not yield as “deep” conclusion that you can get with full factorial multivariate test (which test all possible combinations).

To your success,

Jag Foo

In split testing, we test one element of your sales page or website. For example, we can test headline A vs headline B (or vs C, D and so on), and we see which is the winner.

Split testing is pretty easy and straightforward to set up and implement.

But there are several drawbacks.

It’s very time consuming and costly. That’s because you can only test 1 element at a time.

Say we want to also test different images, location of image, sub headlines and so on…we can only do so one element at a time – one after another.

Because of this, by the time you are finished with all the elements, it could be weeks or months later!

You waste more time. And money as well as you incur more cost when the duration of the test drags.

There is another important point to consider. With split testing, it doesn’t tell us how each elements affect one another.

You might independently test the headline, and find one that performs really badly – so you don’t use it. Then you test your image, and find one that does really bad – so again, you don’t use it.

But what if the combination of the seemingly bad headline and image can send conversion through the roof? Well…you won’t know! Because you have already rejected the bad headline!

The Solution – Multivariate Testing

As the name suggest, multivariate testing allows you to test multiple elements (e.g. headline, image, offer, guarantee etc) – simultaneously - all in 1 go.

So say you have the following elements to test:

3 versions of headlines

2 versions of images

2 versions of offer

You will have a total of 12 (3 x 2 x 2) combinations of these elements.

When you carry out a multivariate test, traffic will then be split equally to each of these combination.

Sounds like a lot of work? Not to worry.

You can automate the whole process by using Google’s free Google Website Optimizer.

Benefits:

• Increased conversion
• More leads/sales
• Reduced cost per lead/acquisition
• Greater customer interaction on your site
• No more guesswork/dispute over which elements perform best

Powerful isn’t it? Let me know your comments.

To your success,

Jag Foo

1. Gmail advertising via placement targeting on content network

2. Optimizing your conversion automatically with Conversion Optimizer

3. Optimizing your conversion through multivariance testing

Perhaps it’s mainly because you felt lazy or just the idea of putting in a substantial shift to clear the workload turns you off.

Whatever your reason may possibly be, I’m certain we all have our moments of procrastination.

You tell yourself, "Okay. I am going to get it completed and over with tomorrow".

But what often happens? The next day, you find another excuse to skip the work. And again, you tell yourself the same thing to justify your laziness - that you’ll get it accomplished by tomorrow.

And thus it drags. The next day becomes yet again the next day and the next…

Make no mistakes about it.

Procrastination can be deadly especially when it concerns essential company activities. Things to do such as forming essential joint ventures, driving visitors, split testing and so on.

You are just denying your self the opportunity to further develop your company.

After all, if money loves speed, you are surely not doing yourself any favor by dragging your feet.

As John Reese says, “Movement over meditation”. Just get something moving.

So the question is - how can you beat procrastination?”

Here’s an uncomplicated and painless answer - the 5 units dash!

First, ask your self this. Are you able to just take out 5 minutes of your time to accomplish the upcoming work at hand?

I’m not asking you to take 1 hour or even 30 minutes. Just 5 minutes to get going. Definitely you’ll be able to set aside 5 minutes right?

Then GO! Get started! Take out Five minutes to do it. Bam! It’s over before you know it!

Congratulations! You have taken a little but progressive step forward. Now you are moving.

See, it’s is not that tough after all right?

As soon as we break down the complete procedure into the smallest unit, it’s no more time that intimidating.

And once you build up the momentum, you won’t want to stop! Even if you stop at some point, you could have at least, achieved some thing. And that’s a basis you possibly can develop from.

Rinse and repeat. 5 minutes start off of. And keep going. Take a brief rest right after every 30 minutes after which you can return to serious focused work once more.

If you can put into action this effortless regimen, I assure you that your company and individual productivity will skyrocket.

Yes, you can beat the dreaded procrastination disease!

All success,

Jag Foo

Because, with a excellent quality score, you can reduce your cost per click (CPC). And increase the probability of you obtaining a higher advert rank.

Generally, the quality score is affected by 3 primary factors:

- Click through rate (CTR)

- Relevancy

- Quality of landing page

Between the 3, Click through rate carries the highest weight in the determination of the quality score.

Now, in the quest to obtain high click through rate, there is a mistaken myth that perpetuate amongst a lot of Adwords marketers.

And that’s - should you were to place in a larger bid, you’ll rank higher. And with a increased ad rank, you will tend to get much more clicks and obtain a higher click through rate. As a result of the higher click through rate, your quality score will also improve.

Sounds right?

Well, actually this is not the case.

The amount your bid is completely independent of the quality score.

You can bid higher and still get a poor score. On the flip side, it is possible to obtain a high quality score even though your bid is low.

I know you might be thinking a high ad rank due to a higher bid should get you a good quality score by virtue of your high CTR.

But this is not how Google functions.

Google recognizes that advertisements in higher ranking tend to have higher click through rate than advertisements in a lower rank.

To be able to calculate a fair and precise quality score, the quality score is normalized so as to eliminate the influence of advert placement on the CTR.

Should you want to get high quality score, concentrate on creating more relevant and compelling advertisements.

Google wants a better user experience for their searchers. And if you are able to provide high quality ads, they’ll reward you with a much better quality score.

All success,

Jag Foo

While this can be a good thing – it also means we are susceptible to information overload.

Information overload inspires “inaction”. It kills creativity and leads to procrastination.

There’s got to be a way to deal with information overload

And in this article – Michael Masterson shows you how.

"One of the effects of living with electric information is that we live habitually in a state of information overload. There’s always more than you can cope with.""

Marshall McLuhan

Information Overload: How to Escape the Crush

By Michael Masterson

Stanley Bergen has a problem. As a regular reader of ETR and a new member of the Oxford Club, he’s getting so much good stuff from us (he’s especially interested in learning how to "eliminate some debt" and retire one day) that he "can’t figure out what to read."

"Don’t get me wrong," he says. "I love ETR and the Oxford Club publications, and I look forward to reading them. But it’s too much information all at once."

"What should I do?" he asks.

What should any of us do?

We live in a world that is absolutely flooded with information. Consider these facts:

· The average person receives 32 e-mail messages per day.

· There is enough scientific information written every day to fill seven complete sets of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

· The world’s production of print, film, optical, and magnetic content in just one year would require roughly 5 exabytes (5 trillion megabytes) of storage, about 800 megabytes per person.

So if you - like Stan Bergen - are feeling overwhelmed by information, you’re not alone. Information overload is a serious problem for just about everyone.

"One of the most anxiety-inducing side effects of the information era," Richard Saul Wurman says in Information Anxiety" is the feeling that you have to know it all." That is especially true for smart, ambitious people - people who want to improve their lives and realize that getting the right information is a big part of success.

As an ETR reader, that probably means you.

When you begin a new project or become interested in a new idea, do you have an insatiable desire to learn more about it? Do you find yourself buying - and reading - every book, report, newsletter, and magazine you can find on the subject? (That’s what I do.)

In the beginning, it feels great. You are riding high. Then, all of a sudden, you realize that you’ve become an information junkie. You’ve been spending so much time reading about whatever it is you want to do that you don’t have any time left to actually do it. You feel like crying for help.

Bob Bly calls this "analysis paralysis."

"All the information you are taking in has overloaded your circuits," he says. "You can’t process it all, sort through it, and figure out what to do first. So, instead, you do nothing. You take no action - other than to order yet another course or report to read."

Does any of this sound familiar?

Bob has a formula for preventing analysis paralysis. He calls it the 25-50-25 rule. It is based on the fact that there are only three ways to learn a process (e.g., how to start an Internet business) or a skill (e.g., copywriting): studying, observing, and doing.

The 25-50-25 rule says that you must divide your time as follows:

· No more than 25 percent of your time studying - i.e., reading books, attending workshops, listening to instructional CDs in your car.

· No more than 25 percent of your time observing - watching what successful people are already doing.

· At least 50 percent of your time actually DOING the thing you are studying and observing.

For example, if you want to sell information products on the Internet, you would spend 25 percent of your time studying material on the way it’s done, 25 percent of your time observing the way other people are doing it, and 50 percent of your time creating your first product… designing your website… and building your list.

I like Bob’s rule because it emphasizes action. And when I found out about it, I wondered if it could be applied to my daily working life. In thinking about it, I concluded that it depended greatly on what sort of work I was doing. If I was learning a new skill, Bob’s rule seemed to apply. But when I was going about my normal workday activities - creating new products and growing businesses - my time was spent very differently.

My daily working life, I realized, has three common components:

· Gathering information

· Analyzing that information and using it to make plans

· Taking action

I tend to do my information gathering at specific times. I read newspapers in the early morning, magazines during breaks, and e-mail at the end of the day. I read to encounter useful ideas. I analyze those ideas both as I’m reading them and later on, at odd moments throughout the day. I spend most of my workday - about 80 percent of it - taking action. The rest of my time - 20 percent - is devoted to gathering information, analyzing it, and making plans.

I like that 80 percent number. It corresponds with Pareto’s Law - the 80/20 rule that you can apply to just about everything.

I decided to ask some of the most successful people I know (from many different industries and countries) the following questions:

1. How much time each day do you work?
2. How much of that time do you spend gathering and analyzing information?
3. How much of that time do you spend planning?
4. How much of your day do you spend taking action?

Only half a dozen have responded so far, but their answers are interesting. In terms of hours worked, it ranges from 4.5 to 12, with an average of 9. In terms of planning, the range extends from 15 minutes to 90 minutes, with an average of 45. Time devoted to information gathering ranges from 90 minutes to 3 hours, with an average of 145 minutes.

Those numbers correspond to mine. A typical workday for me is 10 hours long, with an hour and a half devoted to gathering information and 45 minutes devoted to some form of planning.

That’s not a ton of time for inputs. And that means the minutes I spend each day taking in information must be absolutely golden.

What I didn’t expect to get from my brief survey were the comments and insights my colleagues have been sharing. They’ve not only told me how they spend their time, but have offered tricks and techniques for getting more done, faster.

Responses are still coming in. When I get all of them, I’ll be sure to make them available to you. So keep reading ETR for more details.

Next week, I’ll give you a clear and useful strategy for reading all that information you’re being bombarded with, to help you sort through the clutter. While you’re waiting for solutions, compare the way you allocate your time to the numbers above that I’ve already collected.

[Ed. Note: Information overload isn't the only stressful situation you deal with on a regular basis. For a powerful guide jam-packed with advice about how to bypass life's most difficult problems and stickiest situations, simply click here.

Get more of Michael's surefire strategies for getting ahead in business and in life inTrue Path to Profits: A Master Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Success. Find out more - including how you can get a bonus subscription to Michael's VIP newsletter, Ready Fire Aim - right here.]

All success,

Jag Foo

Basically, as humans, we are all emotional creatures. A lot of what we do are driven by emotions. And you will include buying decision in that.

Emotions are what we made us buy. And then we use logic to justify the purchase.

Therefore, if you can appeal successful to your prospect’s emotions…and press his hot buttons repeatedly…you are going to get his business.

So what can spark off his emotions, you may ask?

The short answer is put your focus on “benefits”.

Elmer Wheeler, calls this selling the “sizzle”.

“WHAT WE MEAN by the “sizzle” is the BIGGEST selling point in your proposition – the MAIN reasons why your prospects will want to buy. The sizzling of the steak starts the sale more than the cow ever did, though the cow is, of course, very necessary!

Hidden in everything you sell, whether a tangible or an intangible, are “sizzles.” Find them and use them to start the sale. Then, after desire has been established in the prospect’s thinking, you can bring in the necessary technical points.

The good waiter realizes he must sell the bubbles – not the champagne. The grocery clerk sells the pucker – not the pickles, the whiff – not the coffee. It is the tang in the cheese that sells it!

The insurance man sells PROTECTION, not cost per week. Only the butcher sells the cow and not the sizzle, yet even he knows that the promise of the sizzle brings him more sales of his better cuts.”

Wise words indeed.

To illustrate further, consider this:

• Don’t sell the toothpaste. Sell the captivating smile.
• Don’t sell the house. Sell the warm fuzzy feeling of a home.
• Don’t sell the software. Sell how much time and money it can save for you.
• Don’t sell the fast luxury car. Sell him the convenience, and his need for REAL speed!

Get the drift?

Appeal to his inner desires, and reach deep down into his longings. Explain it to him better than he can explain it himself.

And then make him imagine it in a way only he can. With that, I guarantee you, the sale will be in the bag.

And it’s applicable to both copywriting and offline salesmanship.

All success,

Jag Foo

Just to get you up to speed, here are the latest marketing blog posts I’ve written on iMarketer:

• How To Create THE Winning Headline For Your Advertisement
• How To Increase Your Sales Conversion Rate With 10 Simple Tricks
• Google These "Keywords" At Your Risk…
• The Truth About Making Marketing Decisions
• How To Give Your Social Media Marketing Efforts An Extra Boost

Enjoy the read!

All success,

Jag Foo

Watch this video on how automation can help your business save time, effort and cost…

More about WinAutomation’s features: 

When you are done, head on down to http://www.WinAutomation.com to get your free download.

You will be amazed how much time you will save just by automating some of the most mundane tasks you are doing daily. Don’t take it from me. Try it for yourself and you will know what I mean.

All success,

Jag Foo