dimanche 27 mars 2016

The 30 Magic Marketing Words You Should Be Using

The 30 Magic Marketing Words You Should Be Using

K

Savvy business owners, copywriters, and designers know how language influences emotions and persuades action. Certain words and phrases are time-tested to boost response and conversion rates almost across the board. Of course, different motivating words and phrases work better in different situations, and it’s up to you to figure out which work best for your business. It isn’t all that difficult to figure out, though: If your intuition doesn’t tell you, your customers will. Test the following 30 “magic marketing words” in your next email, social media or blog post, on a direct-mail postcard or website to see which yields the best response.
  1. You – Write as though you’re speaking to the customer and about the customer, not about yourself.
  2. Because – Give customers a reason why they need to take action.
  3. Free – “Because” we all like free things, right?
  4. Value – This implies customers are getting something versus losing something (i.e. money when you say “cost” or “price”).
  5. Guaranteed – Give customers a guarantee to minimize risk perception, so they feel they have everything to gain and nothing to lose.
  6. Amazing – Customers will respond to something that is incredible.
  7. Easy – Make it simple for customers to take the next step in the purchasing process, and let them know how much easier life will be with your product or service.
  8. Discover – This implies there is something new and unknown to the customer, something that has supreme benefits and gives them an edge.
  9. Act now – Motivate an immediate response with a limited-time offer.
  10. Everything included/everything you need – This establishes that your product or service is all your customers will have to buy in order to achieve their goal.
  11. Never – Point out a “negative benefit,” such as “never worry again” or “never overpay again.”
  12. New – Your product or service is the cutting edge in your industry.
  13. Save – The most powerful word to showcase monetary savings, or even time savings.
  14. Proven – Remind customers that your product, service or business is tried-and-true.
  15. Safe and effective – “Proven” to minimize risk perception for health and monetary loss.
  16. Powerful – Let customers know that your business, product or service is robust.
  17. Real results/guaranteed results – Your customers want results, after all.
  18. Secret – Not everyone succeeds, and there are secrets to success. Let customers know you can reveal those secrets.
  19. The – This implies your solution is the “end-all-be-all.” Consider the difference: “3 Solutions for Marketing Success”/”The 3 Solutions for Marketing Success.”
  20. Instant –Instant access or downloads are more appealing than waiting.
  21. How to – Start off with a solution so customers read the rest of your copy.
  22. Elite –Your customers are among the best in the world. Invite newbies to join a highly desirable club.
  23. Premium – Premium helps denote high quality.
  24. Caused by – If your marketing literature builds a case for your product, transitional phrases such as “caused by,” “therefore,” and “thus” can help reinforce the logic of a purchase.
  25. More – Do you offer more than your competitors? Let your customers know, because they want the best deal, after all.
  26. Bargain – Because customers want a great deal, remember?
  27. No obligation – Create a win-win situation for your customers.
  28. 100% money-back guarantee – Again, no risk.
  29. Huge – A large discount or outstanding offer is difficult to resist.
  30. Wealth – If you’re selling products and services related to money, wealth is a desirable word for customers.
They key to success is to combine these words into phrases that trigger buying behavior. For example: “Get real results instantly – 100% money-back guarantee – act now!” Keep your copy short and sweet, play on emotional triggers with these words and phrases, and you’ll increase your conversion and response rates.

samedi 26 mars 2016

8 Ways to Fight Stress from the Stock Market

8 Ways to Fight Stress from the Stock Market

We all know that stress is bad. As an investor, it is very important to stay balanced while trading because Monday – Friday you are in the game whether you like it or not. So how do you fight stress?
The key is to stay calm and be disciplined with your investing. Market induced stress can be caused by you being too involved in your daily routine and the second by second moves versus staying focused on the bigger picture.
How do you fight stress from the stock market? Here are 8 ways:
  • Use stop loss orders. Stop loss orders are like insurance, they are stock orders that will automatically sell your position at a pre-determined price if that price is hit anytime during the trading day. They remove the “do I sell now? Should I hold instead?” drama of investing and replace it with a disciplined strategy. They are also perfect for maintaining a strong profit vs loss ratio.
  • Dont watch your streamer live all day every day. The real time ups and downs of the market can really cause some temporary stress. If you are like me you have your real-time streamer streaming live quotes from your favorite stocks and the market all day. If you know you aren’t in the right mind frame it sometimes is better to just close the streamer for a few hours or the day and bring it back on tomorrow.
  • Refresh your portfolio balance only once a day. Are your stocks losing ground fast? Instead of refreshing your portfolio every 5 seconds and seeing fresh losses, wait till after the market is closed and then refresh your portfolio balance. Remember, your stop loss orders will minimize your losses for you so you don’t have to.
  • Have a investment strategy. Not having an investment strategy is like running around with your head cut off. Don’t be stupid, trade with a plan. Every buy and sell should be part of that plan and as a result will greatly reduce any stress you may have. In fact, a well assembled investment strategy can mean the difference between daily stress and no stress at all.
  • Eat healthy foods. Eating healthy can help keep your body well balanced. I personally enjoy an Apple almost every day while watching the stock market. Eating junk food doesn’t help stress because if your body isn’t happy your mind typically won’t be happy.
  • Get enough sleep each night. Adults should sleep on average 6 – 8 hours a night. If you are getting 5 hours or less of sleep and are wondering why you are more sensitive when your stocks open down take a look at your alarm clock. Getting that extra hour or two of sleep will make a big difference in how you react and respond to different situations throughout the trading day.
  • Don’t surround yourself with stressed individuals. You act like those who you spend the most time with. Take a look at your colleagues, and if they are investors themselves assess how they handle their own stress. If they are emotional investingevangelists screaming at the computer screen and breaking keyboards like Jim Cramer you may want to take a step back and reconsider how much time you spend with that person.
  • Stay calm in intense situations: stop, think, then act. Perhaps the most affect way to fight stress is to take those stressful times head on with a calm mindset. Remember always to stop, think, then act. This applies with everything from making a tough call with a unknown earnings report coming up to finding your portfolio down several percent on the day.

5 Best Free Stock Chart Websites

Performing technical analysis is no easy task for any investor unless conducted with a good stock charting service. Top free stock chart websites can serve as a great resource for traders who are just dipping into stock chart education as well as seasoned veterans.
This list features the five best free stock chart websites in order taking into consideration the following characteristics:
  1. Professional scalability
  2. Cleanliness
  3. Ease of use
Screenshots are also provided for each site.
1. StockCharts.com
Stockcharts.com takes the #1 spot for its simplicity, cleanliness, and overall scalability. It is the most widely utilized free stock charting site for financial bloggers and is also the primary charting service used here at StockTradingToGo. The site offers a wide variety of different free tools and ways to analyze any stock chart desired. For investors who want historical charting and further analysis they can upgrade to a paid subscription.
stockcharts_com
2. Yahoo Finance
Yahoo Finance provides a similar charting service to Google Finance just less the extra bullet points highlighting key dates. Yahoo’s charting service is clear, easy to use, and great for regular investors which is why it is #2 on this list. Yahoo Finance is also the go to place for quotes, research, news, etc
AAPL Yahoo Finance 121214
3. TradingView.com
TradingView.com offers a clean and flexible way of looking at stock charts. These stocks charts are community driven to provide analysis in the form of annotations on each chart. Personally, I disable these as they can be distracting, however. Community aside, TradingView also supports extensively flexible and detailed charts, not too mention better pricing than StockCharts.com for those who want access to advanced featured and/or real-time data.
AAPL TradingView 121214
4. Google Finance
Google Finance provides a very clean charting solution for investors. Two of its nice features include the ability to see what key events occurred on major days for the stock being analyzed and the ability to easily look back in time an analyze a stock’s historical performance. Comparing multiple charts or indices by having them overlap is also a breeze.
googfinance_chart
5. FINVIZ.com
And in fifth we have FINVIZ.com which is my #1 favorite site for screening stocks. FINVIZ charts are simple, easy to read, and include technical analysis overlays on them by default which is something the other chart providers do not do, making it unique.
FINVIZ_chart
(

10 Great Ways to Learn Stock Trading as a New Inve




10 Great Ways to Learn Stock Trading as a New Inve
stor

New investors taking their first steps towards learning the basics of stock trading should have access to multiple sources of quality education. Just like riding a bike, trial and error coupled with the ability to keep pressing forth will eventually lead to success.
One great advantage of stock trading lies in the fact that the game itself lasts a lifetime. Investors have years to develop and hone their skills. Strategies used twenty years ago are still utilized today. The game is always in full force.
So for new investors wanting to take their first steps, I offer 10 great answers to the simple question, “How do I get started?”

1. Open a stock broker account
Find a good online stock broker and open an account. Become familiarized with the layout and to take advantage of the free trading tools and research offered to clients only. Some brokers offer virtual trading which is beneficial because you can trade with play money (see #9 below). A gr6. Read and follow the market
News sites such as Yahoo Finance and Google Finance serve as a great resource for new investors. For in depth coverage, look no further than the Wall Street Journal andBloomberg. By monitoring the markets each day and reading headline stories investors can expose themselves to trends, 3rd party analysis, not to mention economic concepts and general business. Pulling quotes and observing fundamental data can also serve as another good source of exposure.
TV is another way to monitor the market each day with CNBC being the most popular channel. Even turning on CNBC for 15 minutes a day will broaden an investor’s knowledge base. Don’t let the lingo or the style of news be a nuisance, just simply watch and allow the commentators, interviews, and discussions to soak in. Beware though, over time you may find that a lot of the investing shows on TV are more of a distraction and are overall full of junk recommendations. This is a natural evolution; you are not alone!
eat tool for comparing online brokers can be found atStockBrokers.com.
2. Read books
Books provide a wealth of information and are inexpensive compared to the costs of classes, seminars, and educational DVDs sold across the web. Here on the site we have a full list of 20 great stock trading books for investors to consider. My personal all-time favorite is How to Make Money in Stocks by William O’Neil, founder of CANSLIM Tradingwhich is pictured below.
3. Read articles
Articles are a fantastic resource for education. Our free Stock Education page here on StockTrader.com lists over 100 unique investment articles broken down into categories. Recommended websites for investment education are investopedia.com and of courseGoogle search.
4. Find a mentor
A mentor could be a family member, a friend, a past or current professor, co-worker, or any individual that has a fundamental understanding of the stock market. A good mentor is willing to answer questions, provide help, recommend useful resources, and keep spirits up when the market gets tough. All successful investors of the past and present have had mentors during their early days.
Forums can be another source for question and answer. Two recommendations includeElite Trader and Trade2Win. Just be careful of who you listen to. The vast majority of participants are not professional traders, let alone profitable traders. Heed advice from forums with a heavy dose of salt and do not, under any circumstance, follow trade recommendations.
5. Study the greats
Learning about the greatest investors of years past will provide perspective, inspiration, and appreciation for the game which is the stock market. Greats include Warren Buffett,Jesse LivermoreGeorge SorosBenjamin GrahamPeter LynchJohn Templeton and Paul Tudor Jones, among others. One of my favorite book series is the Market Wizards by Jack Schwager.
6. Read and follow the market
News sites such as Yahoo Finance and Google Finance serve as a great resource for new investors. For in depth coverage, look no further than the Wall Street Journal andBloomberg. By monitoring the markets each day and reading headline stories investors can expose themselves to trends, 3rd party analysis, not to mention economic concepts and general business. Pulling quotes and observing fundamental data can also serve as another good source of exposure.
TV is another way to monitor the market each day with CNBC being the most popular channel. Even turning on CNBC for 15 minutes a day will broaden an investor’s knowledge base. Don’t let the lingo or the style of news be a nuisance, just simply watch and allow the commentators, interviews, and discussions to soak in. Beware though, over time you may find that a lot of the investing shows on TV are more of a distraction and are overall full of junk recommendations. This is a natural evolution; you are not alone!
7. Consider paid subscriptions
Paying for research and analysis can be both educational and useful. Some investors may find watching or observing market professionals to be more beneficial than trying to apply newly learned lessons themselves. There are a slew of paid subscription sites available across the web, the key is in finding the right ones for you. View a list of the services I use use myself. Two well-respected services include Investors.com and Morningstar.
IMPORTANT – Be careful. Many paid subscriptions come from independent traders and services that claim to have fantastic returns and can “teach” you how to be successful. 99% of them are a scam and come with higher prices of $99 – $149 per month, or more. See, 10 Things I Wish I Knew About Trading Before I Got Started.
8. Go to seminars, take classes
Seminars can provide valuable insight into the overall market and specific investment types. Most seminars will focus on one specific aspect of the market and how the speaker has found success utilizing their own strategies over the years. Examples include Dan Zanger and Mark Minervini. Not all seminars have be paid for either. Some seminars are provided free which can be a beneficial experience, just be conscious of the sales pitch that will almost always come at the end.
When it comes to classes, these are typically pricey, but like seminars, can also be very beneficial. Will O’Neil workshpsInvestoolsOnline Trading Academy, and Bulls On Wall Street provide a variety of courses on investing and trading.
9. Buy your first stock or practice trading through a simulator
With your online broker account setup, the best way to get started it to simply take the plunge and make your first trade. Don’t be afraid to start small, even 1, 10, or 20 shares will serve its purpose of getting you in the game.
If trading with real capital is not possible initially, consider using a stock simulator for virtual trading. A variety of online brokers offer virtual trading for practicing.
One of the most common mistakes traders make is to go all-in and try to score big with a full portfolio position out of the gate. This is an often painful mistake and why many new investors suffer big losses early on. Proper portfolio allocation is extremely important. For more tips of wisdom, see my article, 60 Stock Tips for Investment Success.
10. Sign up for our free daily market recaps
Join over 17,000 other investors and receive our daily posts via email using the subscribe box below or on the sidebar. I invite all new investors to make StockTrader.com a part of their daily investment routine. 😎
LEARN STOCK CHARTS: Read my 156 page interactive course, The Interactive Guide to Technical Analysis, and learn how to read stock charts.