That’s according to one of their ads. I haven’t seen that particular ad, but I read about it in the NY Times, so it might be true.

I did see one TV ad claiming the new sneakers tone leg and buttock muscles better than regular walking shoes. Is it just marketing BS, or could it be true? A lot of people seem to think (or at least hope) so. Sales are smoking hot, just like your legs will be.

Reebok says the EasyTone is their biggest hit in five years. And no wonder. They were designed by a real rocket scientist, former NASA engineer Bill McInnis, now Reebok’s head of advanced innovation.

But what about the controversial claim? Can the shoes live up to the boast? According to the Times,

“The claim is backed by a single study involving just five women, walking on a treadmill for only 500 steps. Some wore the EasyTone or another Reebok walking shoe, some were barefoot. Sensors indicated that the EasyTone worked glutes 28% more than regular walking shoes. Hamstring and calf muscles worked 11% harder.” (Edited slightly for length, clarity and emphasis.)

Wait — who cares if your leg and butt muscles work a little bit harder? All we want to know is, do boobs really get jealous?

I’m talking about those pop-up windows that ask for your email address in exchange for some information that might be worth your time and might interest you. Then again, it might not. After all, they don’t know you, or anything about you — except that somehow you landed on their website. You probably know little or nothing about them too.

Entry “pop-up sign-ups” are the most annoying. These appear almost immediately after you land on a page — before you’ve had a chance to look around and see what the site is all about. Another appears every time you click anything. If you’re anything like me, you quickly tire of the nonsense and exit the site.

Supposedly, they’re a proven way to increase sign-ups. Maybe. But I wonder how many frustrated visitors (like me) enter a phony or never-checked email address just so they’ll be left alone. If that’s the case, the quantity of sign-ups may increase, but the quality suffers.

“When the (1930’s) Depression hit… Post did the predictable thing: it reined in expenses and cut back on advertising. But Kellogg doubled its ad budget, moved aggressively into radio advertising, and heavily pushed its new cereal, Rice Krispies.”

And the result?

“By 1933, even as the economy cratered, Kellogg’s profits had risen almost thirty per cent and it had become what it remains today: the industry’s dominant player.”

Read the rest at: Hanging Tough: The New Yorker.

If you enjoyed this, please pass it on.

Suppose you needed heart surgery. Would you shop around for the lowest price? Of course not. You’d want the very best quality care available. It’s the same with your marketing. You want the most attractive, persuasive, compelling website (or brochure, sales letter, etc.) you can get. Now honestly, do you believe you’ll get the quality you demand from a less-expensive, less-experienced, less-knowledgeable provider? Are you crossing your fingers and hoping for Nordstrom quality at Wal-Mart prices?

Let’s go back to your heart surgery again. (Don’t worry, I promise you’ll be feeling better soon.) OK, you need a certain surgical procedure. Suppose one of the surgeons at your hospital had performed hundreds of these procedures over her 20+ year career. Because of her experience, she can open you up, fiddle around in there, and zip you closed again in, say, two hours. A less-experienced surgeon at the same hospital might need 12 hours to provide the same quality.

If hourly rates are the metric you use, the journeyman surgeon would be paid six times more than the expert! Am I the only one who thinks that’s just backwards?

Look at it this way: Would you feel cheated if you were forced to pay more because your writer was slow (or, considering writers’ reputations, hung over)? Likewise, should an expert be penalized because he’s focused and fast?

One more thing. Shouldn’t you be able to call up your writer/designer/ webmaster with a question, idea or concern — without running up your bill? When you and your service provider agree on a flat rate for a project, those issues don’t come up. You can call anytime without re-starting the clock.

In other words, look for creative talent who charge like doctors — not lawyers.

photo credit: Robbie-73

Simple, isn’t it? Your prospective customers don’t need more information. Chances are, they’re drowning in information. And they sure don’t want a sales pitch.

What they really want is advice. Guidance. Expert help from someone they know and trust. Someone who has demonstrated that s/he understands their problem or need, and has a solution. Maybe it’s not even the perfect solution. But it’s a solution, and that’s more than they’ve got right now.

Remember, most prospects want to buy. It’s fun to buy. Besides, they want to solve their problem or satisfy their desire, then get back to whatever they were doing before.

When you look at it that way, marketing and copywriting become pretty simple. It’s not about what you’ve got. It’s about what they get.

What customers really want to know is, “Can you help me?” So four simple words can and should form the foundation of your marketing message:

“I can help you.”

Then just tell them how you’ll do it. Voila! You’ve turned a browser into a buyer.