I won’t keep you in suspense. The answer is “Yes!” It is indeed smart to use direct mail for online sales.

There was a time not that many years ago when the “World Wide Web” was a mysterious and magical place. Gurus proclaimed that everything would soon change.

Other media, including direct mail and nearly anything in print, would die a rapid death. We were destined to live in a “paperless” world. “Brick and mortar” stores would transform into “virtual” businesses.

Well, like most idealistic visions, this scenario hasn’t played out as expected. The Web has not killed real-world stores. We shuffle more paper than ever before. And direct mail, while certainly affected by the rise of online media, isn’t even close to death. In many ways, it’s stronger and more effective than ever.

People are so annoyed and suspicious of unsolicited email, they now consider direct mail to be a relatively trustworthy medium. And while SEO, social marketing, pay-per-click, and other online strategies are powerful tools, they tend to reach only those actively searching for a product like yours.

This is why smart online entrepreneurs understand that the medium is not the business. The bigger you want your business to be, the more media you must use to expand your reach. And there is no other medium that gives you more reach than good old fashioned direct mail.

If a prospect has money to spend, they have an address. And if they have an address, you can reach them with direct mail.

So how can you use direct mail to build your online business?

Advertise specials and sales. GoDaddy is a good example. They use all the available online marketing media to draw more business for their hosting and domain services, but also use direct mail to push a constant stream of time-limited offers.

Build your relationship with customers. Online relationships are fragile, often fickle. But direct mail exists in the real world. You can hold it in your hand and bring it into your home. It can make your business more tangible and personal.

Reach a wider circle of prospects. Not everyone is glued to their computer. Direct mail helps you speak to people who want your products and services but live outside your core online audience.

Send samples. It’s hard to judge the quality of coffee online. But you can mail a sample for people to smell and taste. If they like it, and assuming it’s not available at the grocery store, they’re happy to buy it online. They may buy it online even if it is available at the local grocery if you give them a good reason, such as special savings or automatic shipping.

Use email to support direct mail and vice versa. If you’re sending a direct mail piece, use your email list to give people a timely heads up. Or you can use direct mail to encourage people to opt in to quickly build your online list. Media integration builds synergy, helping your media do more together than they might do if used separately.

By day, I’m a copywriter and direct marketing consultant. By night, I help run a nonprofit political action committee (PAC).

Since I prefer to keep politics off this blog, I’ll forgo mentioning the name of the PAC.

In my last post, I talked about driving web traffic with direct mail. However, direct mail has its limitations, especially for small nonprofit organizations with tight budgets. Our PAC budget is less than $50,000 a year. So from the beginning, I’ve put an emphasis on highly cost-effective tactics.

As a result, the organization has no brick and mortar presence and operates almost exclusively online with a website and a variety of online “outposts,” including a forum as well as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

While we run a variety of real-world events, such as political rallies, dinners, and meetings, online tools and social media drive the marketing, enabling the website and organization to grow rapidly with minimal cost.

I decided to look at the numbers recently and found confirmation that these tactics have worked spectacularly well.

In 2009, the organization saw a 61% increase in website traffic over the previous year with 41% visitor loyalty (visitors who return 2 or more times). Donations, event attendance, and political influence have all increased dramatically and the number of supporters has grown statewide and nationally.

The website is now one of the most heavily trafficked sites in its category, performing better than nearly all similar organizations, even those operating on a national level. In addition, email newsletter subscriptions have increased from 10 a day to as much as 450 a day, resulting in massive list growth.

To achieve these results, I have used a “portfolio” approach, using tactics that have the greatest effect on search engines, referral sites, and direct traffic.

Content and keywords boost search traffic. Content is king. The PAC has created more than 7,000 pages of high-quality content in the form of blog posts and pages, churning out 8-12 new, timely articles a week. This boosts the website’s rank in search engines and creates a large pool of keywords to drive search traffic.

Of the top 25 most popular pages on the website, I created 19 exclusively for their keyword value. News items that are timely and which properly employ good keywords nearly always generate higher search traffic.

Social media rules referral traffic. Link trading, online directories, and links on supporters’ sites are fine, but produce poor results. However, popular social media sites have the traffic and “link juice” to make links work on a regular basis.

Just weeks after creating a Facebook fan page, traffic began flowing to the PAC website. Better still, social bookmarking sites have created a bonanza of traffic. In December of 2009, StumbleUpon accounted for over 25% of total website traffic and remains strong to this day.

Newsletters drive direct traffic. Forget “build it and they will come.” I use a weekly, digest-style email newsletter that provides links to current blog posts, events, and affiliate products.

The newsletter goes out on Tuesday morning and creates a spike in web traffic that lasts for 48 hours. Featured articles always get higher read counts. Articles not linked to show low read counts. By every metric, traffic increases dramatically when people are “pushed” to the site.

To be fair, a good deal of traffic comes from direct searches for the PAC. And this can be attributed to printed literature distribution, media coverage, and live events. However, these sources generally have their origin online. I use online tools to encourage literature distribution, attract media coverage, and fill the seats at events.

Although I’m known as a “direct mail” guy, my focus has always been on what works, without any loyalty to a particular medium. I knew from the beginning that if a small organization like ours relied on traditional direct mail or printed newsletters, for example, it would be expensive and would limit growth.

By using a simple portfolio of online resources, and by following the most basic of best practices, I have helped the PAC website rapidly attract more traffic. As traffic grows, so do donations, volunteers, publicity, and influence.

Nonprofits who are still relying on traditional print media should consider not only the cost-effectiveness but the absolute effectiveness of these online resources.

There’s a lot of talk about how to use blogs to increase your traffic, attract prospects, and generate buzz. But there’s too little talk about blog security.

Like it or not, blogs are easy prey for hackers and other online ne’er-do-wells. And when they strike, and they will eventually, you need to be prepared.

Recently, this blog and Pro Copy Tips, were the victim of a series of sophisticated hack attacks. I contacted James from Men With Pens, who recommended John Hoff, co-founder of WP Blog Host, WordPress blog security guru, and author of the best-selling WordPress Defender.

I was so impressed with John, I asked him to do an interview with me on blog security.

***

Dean: When my blogs were attacked, I panicked a little. Is that a common reaction?

John: I’m sure it is. I know it was for me and my wife when her jewelry website got hacked a few years back. One day we went to her website and instead of seeing what we normally see, we saw a Google Warning stating that her site had been flagged by Google and may be downloading viruses to people’s computers. Yeah, our heart skipped a beat when we saw that.

Dean: Why do people hack blogs? Just for fun? Or is it more sinister?

John: Both reasons, actually. Every malicious WordPress hacker has their own agenda. Some reasons might include:
- Showing off to friends
- To learn something new
- They don’t like what you stand for
- They think it’s funny to ruin what others have worked so hard at creating
- Downloading viruses to people’s computers which could be configured to do just about anything
- Use your blog to create backlinks to their websites (SEO reasons, monetary reasons, etc.)

Dean: Fortunately, you were able to help me tighten my blog security. But what can happen if you just ignore the issue or rely on luck to avoid problems?

John: To me, there are 3 really bad things that can happen if you decide to ignore the problem of your website being hacked:

1. Google and other search engines would have caught up to what’s going on with your website and remove you from their search engines.

2. You could lose one of your most important assets online … trust! Tell me, would you trust Amazon.com if you knew their site had been hacked and they just ignored the problem?

3. You would be (morally) responsible for potentially allowing harmful viruses to download to your site’s visitor’s computers.

Dean: That’s scary stuff. It’s good that we have someone like you around to help us avoid those problems. Without revealing anything specific, what exactly did you do to make my blogs more secure?

John: I set you up to be prepared in case it does happen so that you can recover quickly and hopefully inexpensively; hooked you up with a system of monitoring and warning notifications in case something unexpected does happen; and then finally I customized key aspects of your blog to be only accessed by a small few.

Dean: The recovery element is really important. I know you can’t secure any blog 100%, but now that I’m set up to recover easily, I’m feeling a lot less stressed. But I’m wondering, is security a big problem? Most of the blogs about blogs don’t talk much about security.

John: It is a big problem and unfortunately most bloggers really are clueless as to how big of a problem WordPress “cracking” is. Nearly 2.6 million results are returned for the Google Search, “My Blog Was Hacked,” and I bet you most of those people didn’t realize this was a problem until it was too late.

I suppose the reason why you don’t see many people talking about blog security is because either the subject is kind of boring and at times can be a little technical, or like I mentioned before, the blogger is clueless as to how big of a problem this is … and that’s exactly what hackers want.

They want you to stay clueless.

Listen, real hackers don’t gloat and blog all about how they hack websites, they just do it and then leave an opening for the next hacker to come in and do their dirty work. It’s almost like they watch out for each other.

I’m sure there are hundreds of thousands (if not more) blogs out there which are hacked and the blog owners don’t even know about it.

Dean: What’s the most common security mistake people make?

John: If we’re talking technically, then the most common security mistake I’ve seen out there is failure to keep up with WordPress and plugin upgrades. However, I believe security always first starts with focusing in on you, the individual. In this case, I’d say procrastination is probably one of the biggest security mistakes bloggers make.

Dean: Good point. I’ve always done backups, but I didn’t do it very often until I had a problem. Lesson learned. If you were to list just 5 quick things people could do to prevent their WordPress blog from getting hacked, what would they be?

John: Well, I’d say …

1. Acknowledge there’s a problem and that you are not immune to it.
2. Don’t use the username “admin” and be sure to use a strong password, like t$#lLiS54@ew9.
3. Stay current with WordPress and plugin upgrades.
4. Run your FTP connection over FTPS or SFTP so your password is hidden.
5. Install the WordPress Firewall Plugin.

Dean: I’m curious, does it matter where you host your blog?

John: Generally, no it doesn’t as long as the host maintains the minimum requirements to run a WordPress blog. Just make sure your host has a good firewall installed, like Mod Security, and it would be best if the PHP version they run is at least PHP 5 and the MySQL database version is 5 or above as well.

I also would look for a host which allows secured FTP connections, like FTPS, FTPES, or SFTP. One way people hack blogs is by intercepting your FTP information when you log in. By using the secured FTP connections, this would be nearly impossible.

Dean: Working with you was fantastic, John. You spoke to me in plain English, answered all my questions, charged a fair price, and … well, you were just cool. Where did you learn that? Most tech guys are not that easy to work with.

John: Thank you, Dean. I’ve actually been told that many times. I suppose it comes from being very patient and when explaining how to do things I always try to remember all the issues I had when learning it and making sure those are all addressed in what I’m doing.

I’m also a laid back kind of guy. If it were up to me I’d be spending my days on a beach in Hawaii surfing everyday. Do they make computers for surfboards?

Dean: I don’t know, but it’s not a bad idea. You could embed an iPad right into the board. But I’m guessing you’d wipe out more often.

John: I could just float and work. What a cool way to spend my days.

Dean: How long have you been doing WordPress security?

John: About two and a half years.

Dean: What gave you the idea to start WPBlogHost.com?

John: I and a few others got together and noticed how big WordPress was becoming and the fact that no other web host really catered to people looking to start a blog, so we filled that void. We’ve created a ton of videos on our web television channel, wpbloghost.tv for beginners / intermediates, and we really want to help bloggers jump ahead a little on the learning curve when they’re just starting out.

Dean: Your book, WordPress Defender, is amazing. It’s actually interesting and easy-to-read. And I learned a lot about blog security. How long did you work on that? Do you update it frequently?

John: Thank you. It took me a couple years to learn what I know today, but to write the ebook and create the 14 videos took me somewhere between 2 and 3 months. Since the subject can be boring at times, I really wanted to make sure my personality shined through in the book and the information I dished out was explained in as simple terms as possible.

I’ve updated the ebook once since its launch on March 1st, 2010. eBook owners can also choose to opt into my WordPress Defender Newsletter which will be used to send notifications of updates and/or new security features I come across in the future.

Dean: Well, I loved the book. And the videos are fantastic. I could actually understand them and you take your time explaining things. Your laid-back surfer dude approach works. But I’m sure someone is reading this thinking, “Oh come on, my blog won’t get hacked. I don’t have to worry about security.” What would you say to them?

John: You’re exactly the kind of target they are looking for.

Dean: Nicely said. Thanks, John. It’s nice knowing there’s someone to call who can helps us make our blogs more secure.

***

I hired John to secure my blogs, but if you want to do it yourself, I highly recommend WordPress Defender. It’s probably the only blog security book you’ll ever need. John makes it a pretty good read.

If you’re in over your head, like I was, and want to contact John, go to his WordPress Lockdown page and send him a message. He’s quick to respond. Just keep in mind, he’s on the “left” coast, so take the time zone into consideration.

Twitter has become a big topic in the marketing world. But is it driving traffic or generating sales?

I must admit that my experience with Twitter is limited. I’ve been testing it with a nonprofit political organization I help run in Ohio. The number of “followers” we have is fairly small at this point, but growing steadily.

Most of our “tweets” are actually generated by an automated tool to post our RSS feed, resulting in about 10 tweets a week. I and one other officer have been occasionally adding original tweets about important topics, events, or guests on our radio show. So there are maybe 15 to 20 tweets total every week.

We’ve been on Twitter for about 2 months, and it is starting to show up in our our site statistics as one of the top 20 drivers of link traffic. But it’s difficult to judge the true effectiveness of this new social medium on our donations, sales, newsletter signups, or support.

I realize that we’re not using Twitter to its fullest capability, but it seems to be worthwhile for the minimal effort we’re putting in. It’s easy to set up (maybe 10 minutes total). And publishing the feed takes no effort at all.

Many people say it’s effective, often claiming a 10% to 100% boost in traffic. Most just say it’s great or has great potential without sharing stats. Some say it’s a total waste of time.

So my question is, what is your experience with Twitter? Is it driving Web traffic? Are you seeing more sales? How are you using it? What works and what doesn’t? Has anyone else tried it with a nonprofit or political organization?

Should your links include the words “click here” or is this a tacky and redundant waste of Web page space, since everyone knows what to do with a link?

The click here debate has waged for years. But I think it’s less a debate than a misunderstanding, and it’s easy to clear up.

Let’s assume that I’m writing an article online and I want to link to my newsletter subscription page. There are three ways I can craft this link.

1. I can create a link that links to my free newsletter subscription like this. Here I’ve created a simple “descriptive” link. The content of the link is clear. It uses the common metaphor of the underline to indicate a link, so if you want to know more about my newsletter, you can click on it.

2. I can create a link where I encourage you to subscribe to my free newsletter like this. In this case, I’ve created a “directive” link. Not only does it describe the link, it uses command language to tell you what to do: “subscribe.”

3. I can create a link where I tell you you to click here to sign up for my free newsletter like this. Now I’ve created a “call to action” link. This describes the content of the link and uses directive language to tell you what to do. However it goes one step further and gives you explicit instructions for how to do it: “click here.”

Which link type is correct? It depends on how important it is that someone click on the link.

If you merely wish to offer additional information, a descriptive link gets the job done. This is the most common type of link on the Web. If people click, great. If not, no big deal.

If you want people to click, though, you need to move up to the directive link. This link tells people what to do and will almost always generate more clicks.

If the link is vital, for a sales letter leading to an order page, for example, then you should step up to the call to action link and use the words “click here.” This leaves no doubt about what to do and how to do it. The fact that people know to click a link is irrelevant. This is the same as telling a direct mail recipient to “mail this reply card now.” The more direct you are, the more response you are likely to get.

So there you have it. There are descriptive links, directive links, and call to action links. Deciding which to use depends on how important it is that you get a click. The debate is ended. Go forth and link away.

Oh, and click here now to subscribe to my free newsletter that gives you lots of tips just like this.

Ted Grigg posted some interesting thoughts recently about the impact of direct mail vs. online advertising.

Due to its escalating cost, more demanding execution and relative rarity, direct mail appeals garner more attention from recipients than the same messages found in their crowded email inboxes. With the explosive growth of email, printed direct mail has now gained more respect among consumers.

In addition, direct mail is more intrusive than the Internet that relies 100% on the consumer to access the advertiser’s web site.

There are two important points I’d like to make about this.

First, I agree that direct mail carries a powerful punch. And I have no doubt that it will become more effective as time goes on, despite any new technologies that may arise, perhaps because of new technologies.

As online opportunities multiply and consumers turn their ire away from “junk mail” and toward “spam,” we’ll see consumer attitudes about mail become more and more favorable. People have short memories and can only hate so many things at one time. As they hate spam more, they’ll love direct mail more.

Second, there’s that word, “intrusive.” I love online advertising and agree with the idea of opt-in as a necessary strategy, but a pernicious misconception is evolving out of the online community that this idea should apply to all forms of advertising, that no one should ever be exposed to sales messages that they don’t ask for.

Bull.

Advertising MUST be intrusive. Marketing demands it. Our industry, indeed our entire economy, relies on it. Advertising cannot be passive. It must push messages as aggressively as possible. How could you introduce new products and services otherwise? There’s a reason companies hire sales people — because they push. Advertising is simply salesmanship in print (or sounds or images).

Can you imagine being forbidden to mail anything unless someone specifically asked for it? How many businesses would survive if they were prevented from running ads, putting up billboards, broadcasting radio or TV spots, distributing literature, or otherwise pushing messages without express permission from potential customers?

No one wants to waste money on unresponsive prospects. But we must be careful about misapplying the opt-in idea. Better targeting is what we need, not the mindless and idealistic idea to eradicate intrusiveness.

There’s an ongoing debate between traditional direct response copywriters and the new breed of online copywriters about the importance of SEO (search engine optimization).

In a DM News article, Bob Bly writes about why he doesn’t believe in SEO copywriting. His point is simply that good copywriting should come first and that thinking about keywords is secondary, if you think about them at all. He says “forget the search engines” and “never change a word of strong selling copy.”

Then you have, well, just about everyone on the Internet, who say that SEO is the only way to go. Aaron Wall, for example, is the author of SEO Book and maintains that choosing the right keywords and using them in the right way can rocket you to the top of the search results and boost your traffic and sales.

Who’s right?

This debate is like the direct marketing versus mass marketing debate. It’s two groups of people, each with a different marketing model, trying to lay claim to the ultimate truth.

The traditional direct response guys generally use direct mail or e-mail marketing to drive people to their sites, so they don’t care as much about search engine results. The SEO guys generally use keyword tactics to pull people into their sites, so they care very much about search engine results.

The two are not incompatible. In fact, they can be complementary. It’s just that each has chosen a different way to create traffic.

My view? Why not use both? Does it matter HOW you get results? Smart marketers use any and every tactic that works. Besides, if you really understand SEO copywriting, it’s really about understanding what people are looking for and using the right words to connect to them. Isn’t that what good direct response copywriting is supposed to do?