Copywriters tap into the power of fear knowing that most prospects reading an ad or viewing a commercial have two basic questions in their mind:

1. What do I gain by buying your product or service?

2. What do I lose if I fail to buy or respond to the offer?

Combe, Inc., the manufacturer of the hair dye product Just for Men use the fear factor in the following TV ad spot.

The commercial shows an executive, dressed in a gray suit and gray shirt in the back of an elevator. “One day you find it’s not business as usual”, the narrator warns. “Your hair is gray.” The other occupants step off the elevator. He’s left alone to contemplate how his gray hair may be sending his career down the tubes and how he might not be a seen as a valuable player.

Roll the distressing imagery of a crashing elevator car. The man looks panicked - his life is about to end. Suddenly he hits the emergency stop button and Just for Men rescues him from certain doom.

He emerges from the elevator in a red shirt and khakis with the important building plan in his hand. His coworkers crowd around him as they hang on his every word. His coworker gives him a handshake for that sweeeet presentation.

Hey mid level excutive in your 40’s or 50’s, feeling a little insecure about your career path? Keep the gray and you’re doomed, dye your hair and you’re back in the game. So what’s it going to be?

More common uses of fear in advertising is in the call to action. By limiting either the duration of the special offer or the amount of customers accepted. The potential customer fears they miss out on the deal and the product or service that they are interested in will cost them more.

What are some ways you’ve used the fear factor as an effective motivator in your marketing materials?

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Over the years, the search engines have been placing an increasing value on links that point back to your business’s web site. These links along with other factors are rolled into a formula or an algorithm. Search engines use these proprietary algorithms to determine where your site ranks for a specific geo-targeted keyword or keyword phrase. Off page optimization is the process of creating links on highly respected external sites that can improve your rankings in the search engines and result in additional traffic to your web site.

Major Search Engines
The first place to start are sites that are focused on local search or have sections of their site that provide the visitor with the ability to find goods or services in a particular city. Chances are these sites may already have your company’s basic contact information. The majority of local searches begin at one of the three major search engines: Google, Yahoo!, or MSN. Take some time to test these major search engines to make sure your business information is in their databases and that the information is accurate and up to date. Google and Yahoo! allow businesses to update the information directly from their Web site, and MSN uses a third party to maintain its database of business listings. To find the link to update your businesses information, look for a link entitled “Edit this listing” on your Google and Yahoo! business profile.
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On page optimization is the process of changing or “tweaking” elements of pages of a web site to achieve top performance. Performance is measured in an increase in the amount of visitors that view your web site. The first step for on page optimization for local search is to develop a list of geographical terms that are relevant to your company’s location. This list would include terms such as counties, schools, cities, nicknames for cities, and landmarks. Armed with this list, create a paragraph that answers the who, what, why, and where of your business.

Who are you and how long have you been in business?
What does your company produce or sell?
Why should I choose your company instead of your competitors?
Where is your company located and what geographical area does it service?

The following is an example of before and after local search optimization techniques that have been applied to text found on a typical “About Us” or “Contact Us” page for a fictional bakery.

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Over the past 10 years, the World Wide Web has helped build a global marketplace. Now with little cost and time, a small business can create a web site that can reach new customers across the street or across the ocean. Compared to other advertising and marketing methods, you can’t beat the Internet as a cost-effective marketing tool to grow your customer base.

Although the Web site strategy of most businesses is focused on reaching distant customers with products that are easy to ship, this is usually not the goal of most retail bakeries. Most companies focus on attracting customers from the immediate geographic area. By refining or optimizing the elements of your company’s Web site, you’ll capture the attention of that local market and increase sales volume.

According to research by The Kelsey Group and Constat, Inc., 80 percent of U.S. small-to- medium size businesses reported that 75 percent of their buying and/or selling of products and services occurs within a 50-mile radius. Reaching customers within that 50-mile radius can easily be achieved with a web site optimized for local visitors.
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Following is a list of 32 sites that I’ve used in the past to distribute our press releases out onto the Internet. This should not be your only method of press release delivery, but it should compliment a more traditional approach of sending press releases to targeted news sources such as trade journals, local newspapers, magazines, and websites relating to the subject of the press release.
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