Michael Fortin

Internet Marketing Archive:

Michael Fortin

The Michel Fortin Blog
Top copywriting tips, news, and thoughts on the world of direct response copy, Internet marketing, branding, and positioning from copywriter Michel Fortin.

A Disturbing Trend in Internet Marketing
Mon, 30 Aug 2010 19:05:19 +0000
A recent blog post has stirred quite a lot of controversy. It specifically made some stark accusations about a certain number of marketers who appear to be colluding. Some call it unethical. Others call it smart business. And a few go as far as calling it an illegal cartel that should be charged with breaking [...]

Five Ways to Turn No into Yes
Sat, 17 Jul 2010 14:36:00 +0000
No is a very powerful word. It’s one too easily spoken, as any parent of a small four-year-old will tell you. It’s also detrimental to effective copywriting and sales, because it’s an absolute brick wall of resistance. The minute a potential customer says no, you’ve either lost the sale, or you have to pull out [...]

Declaring My Independence From Smoke
Mon, 05 Jul 2010 17:12:57 +0000
After 30 years, yesterday, which was Independence Day, I declared my own independence… from cigarette smoke. If you’re a non-smoker, this may not be a big issue. But for me, it’s huge. And it’s all because of one ingenious little tool I would have never thought I’d like. Until now. You see, during those 30 [...]

Why People Are Addicted to Info-Products
Sat, 12 Jun 2010 19:23:10 +0000
Have you ever wondered why people buy dozens of info-products… and yet never seem to get around to consuming them, much less using them? I have. And for a long time I just blamed it on people being lazy. In my own case, I blamed it on being too busy with client work to get [...]

12 Awesome Resources For Design and Copy
Sun, 30 May 2010 14:23:46 +0000
One of the things I do is spend about 30 minutes a day reading my RSS feed reader — which is Google Reader. And I have it set so that, when I share a feed I like, FriendFeed picks it up and reshares it on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and many others. I also click “like” [...]

The Need For Long Copy and Other Stupid Myths
Fri, 21 May 2010 22:04:47 +0000
Recently, Terry Dean wrote an awesome article, entitled “Copy is King and Other Common Lies.” The article boils down to the fact that the market and the offer come first. Copy is still important. Design plays an important role, too. But copy is not king. The market is. And I wholeheartedly agree. In fact, after [...]

Earn While You Learn... With Us!
Thu, 22 Apr 2010 18:15:45 +0000
Wow! After several weeks of delivering high-impact webinars, we just finished our first live business build. It was amazing! Our first business is now live and making money for our students. The interaction was phenomenal, and our students are raving about this new training model. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, let me [...]

Are Product Launches Peddling For Profits?
Fri, 09 Apr 2010 18:36:46 +0000
After participating in a recent product launch (something I very rarely do), our Platinum Group was discussing the issue and I wanted to share those insights with you. Considering the recent hysteria behind the massive Apple iPad launch, it got me thinking about how most Internet marketers conduct their product launches. Most of them work [...]

Get in Touch With The Future
Wed, 07 Apr 2010 21:02:14 +0000
An interesting thing is happening lately, and it’s giving me a lot of fodder. I wanted to share a few opinions with you. First off, as you know I love predictions and making some of my own. For example, I wrote a controversial white paper several years ago, called “The Death of The Salesletter.” In [...]

How to Become a Recognized Authority
Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:39:36 +0000
Next month (in mid-April), I’ll be speaking at Armand Morin’s Authority Event in Charlotte, North Carolina, which is part of the Brave The Wave series of specialized events. (And yes, that website was designed and the copy written by yours truly. And yes, those are my affiliate links.) Of course, Armand will be speaking mostly, [...]

The Facebook Fake Friend Fallout
Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:42:32 +0000
The other day, I removed a friend from my Facebook profile for reasons that will soon become clear to you. He was so incensed, he wrote me a personal message accusing me of being rude and insulting. He even remarked that I’m arrogant, and snarkily added that some of his “friends” seem to feel the [...]

How to Capture and Captivate Attention
Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:28:16 +0000
One morning, you go into your mailbox and discover there’s an envelope waiting for you from an unknown source. You bring the package into your living room, tear open the envelope, pull out what’s inside, put on your reading glasses, unfold the letter, and begin to read the contents. After completing all of these steps, [...]

The Real Problem With The Flaw of Attraction
Fri, 19 Feb 2010 19:03:46 +0000
Last night while watching TV, my wife and I had an interesting debate on the whole “The Secret” phenomena. And we came to the very same conclusions. I believe in the law of attraction. I also like the premise behind the book, which is largely influenced by Wally Wattles’ 1910 book, The Science of Getting [...]

Two Shining Stars in an Age of Darkness
Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:40:21 +0000
One of my favorite shows on TV of late is Shark Tank. The show centers on aspiring, brave, and sometimes downright idiotic inventors and entrepreneurs who pitch their ideas in front of a group of merciless, seemingly heartless multimillionaires, begging for investment capital. Some of the advice that come from these “sharks” are pretty obvious [...]

Changes, Relaunches, and Extreme Makeovers
Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:11:55 +0000
A couple of new things to tell you about today. First off, I’m trying a new experiment. I’ve decided to close and remove comments on this blog. Just to see what happens. Why? Here’s the thing… When I post a new blog post, it will be crossposted to a few social networks. Some, by design [...]

Superior Value Equals Superior Sales
Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:36:24 +0000
If your car needed repair work, would you go to a garage that offers free estimates? You likely would. Today, most garages offer them. Not only has it become a customary practice, but also everyone expects a free estimate from mechanics. However, here’s an interesting scenario. Let’s say your car broke down at the worst [...]

On Not Playing The Blame Game
Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:28:13 +0000
Is the Internet marketing industry imploding? I think it is. But if not, it sure seems like it. In fact, it seems to be a sign of the times. For example, we see it with the FTC cracking down on misleading advertisers, Visa and MasterCard closing down merchant accounts for forced continuity billings, and Google [...]

The Future of The Internet is Cloudy
Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:01:27 +0000
One of the things I love about new year’s is reading about year-end predictions. I don’t know why. Perhaps it’s my curious nature. But I’m fascinated when I see where some people think we’re headed. There are some bloggers whose predictions fascinate me. Two have captured my attention: ReadWriteWeb and the Manhattan Marketing Maven. And [...]

Carve Your Niche By Dominating One
Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:03:06 +0000
I was recently interviewed by a print magazine about how I started my business. In it, I offered several tips and ideas on how to carve a niche in the marketplace that I personally applied. I realized some of these tips were particularly powerful. So I wanted to reprint some of my answers here for [...]

Can Copy And Content Commingle?
Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:44:51 +0000
Last year, a bunch of copywriters who also blog — like yours truly — shot the breeze on the Nuts and Blogbolts talk radio show. It was an interesting and at times spirited discussion. After some talk about content and copy (or should I say, writing content versus writing copy), the show’s host, Mike Sansone, [...]

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