You will often find me with my head in a book, studying the
marketing and copywriting experts from the past.
It was whilst reading one such book, that I discovered how using
a drop capital, can increase readership of advertising.
The book was: 'Ogilvy On Advertising' - by David Ogilvy
In the book, Ogilvy, an advertising and marketing legend,
discussed the merits of using a drop capital (also known as a
drop initial).
Ogilvy was renowned for producing advertising which got results,
having helped to build some of the most recognizable brands in
the world including: American Express, Sears, Ford, Shell,
Barbie, Pond's, Dove, and Maxwell House among them, and more
recently, IBM and Kodak.
In 'Ogilvy On Advertising', Ogilvy is quoted as saying 'The drop
capital increases readership of your body copy by an average of
13%'.
How Does The Drop Capital Increase Readership?
Drop capitals seem to work in the same way that images do. In
that they catch the readers eye as they scan the page.
The big capital letter drops down inside the first paragraph.
Because we read from left to right, our eyes move naturally away
from the image and into the text to the right.
The first paragraph is very important, and has to capture the
reader's attention and interest, so that they continue to read
down the page.
The key point is: 'The more people you can get to read the text
on your web pages, the more sales you are going to make.'
Period!
What I really like about the drop capital as a sales tool, is
its subtelty. It doesn't shout: 'Hey! I'm trying to trick you
into reading!' I like to refer to it as a 'stealth copywriting'
technique. It's extremely effective, but without flying above
the radar.
Does This Offline Copywriter's Trick Increase Sales On The
Internet? After reading about how effective drop capitals can be
offline; I decided to see if they could boost my sales
conversion rate, on a website selling an ebook.
My first big hurdle was learning how to create a drop cap effect
on a web page.
I spent a considerable amount of time trying to create a graphic
of a capital letter, which would fit just right in the
paragraph. I quickly discovered that it's very easy to create an
image that is either too big, or too small.
I didn't want the whole effect to look amateurish, as I felt
that it would make my site look unprofessional, and almost
certainly 'hurt' my conversion rates.
After much perserverance and trial and error, I managed to get
everything looking just right.
I Set Up A Split Test To Track My Sales Conversion Rate
Using some state of the art 'split test tracking software', I
set up two different versions of my sales page. The software
split all incoming traffic to my website. Half the visitors
viewed a page WITHOUT a drop capital, and the other half saw the
same page, but this time WITH a drop capital.
A piece of tracking code was placed on my 'thank you' page, so
that I could track which version of my sales page was viewed,
whenever a sale was made. This scientific method of testing,
would prove to me over time which version of my sales page made
more sales.
I decided to let the test run for at least 100 sales, so that
the results wouldn't be a fluke. I eventually stopped the split
test at 135 sales. My Test Results Revealed That My Sales Were
Up By A Huge 40%!
The results from the test were pretty amazing. Not only did it
prove that drop capitals work online, but it also suggested that
they are even more effective on web pages, than they are in
offline advertising.
Here are my test result statisitics from a website where I am
selling an ebook...
Page WITHOUT a drop capital image: 3796 unique visitors, 57 new
sales, 1.5% conversion rate
Page WITH a drop capital image: 3702 unique visitors, 78 new
sales, 2.1% conversion rate
Even though the page WITH a drop capital received slightly less
unique visitors, it still managed to sell 21 more ebooks for me.
Overall, the page WITH the drop capital made 40% more sales,
than the exact same page WITHOUT a drop capital.
I'm sure you will agree that the increase in sales is very
significant; and all after changing just one single letter on my
web page! If you don't currently use drop capital images on your
website, you really are leaving money on the table.
Instead of spending all your time and money, trying to get more
and more visitors to your website, you really should look at how
you can increase your sales, from the existing traffic you are
already getting.
This is the easiest way I have found to increase my profits, and
I didn't have to spend an extra dime on advertising to get it
creating a drop capital effect on a web page. For details, and
to see video proof of how drop capitals have increased online
sales, please visit: http://www.dropcapitals.com
What would happen if one of the credit card issuers/companies went out of business?
What would happen if one of the credit card issuers such as Capital One Bank, Discover Bank, or American Express went out of business
I mean i'm wondering say if capital one bank went out of business like other banks have recently would one of the other credit card companies just turn around and buy them or would visa
Answer
You would still owe the money. The only banks that have "gone away" are investment banks, and these have simply merged, not closed.
But hey, look at it this way. If things keep going the way they are, pretty soon you may just not bother paying your credit cards, regardless. You simply won't have need for a good credit score since you won't be in a position to buy anything.
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