We’re still here…

Thanks everyone for all the wonderful comments. They are greatly appreciated.

But, don’t worry…we’re still here!

Please feel free to let us know if you have any questions. You can do so by posting right here on the blog…or…email me at our support email box at support@makepeacetotalpackage.com. I try to check it every day to see if there are any customer service questions that need to be answered.

And, don’t forget, all of Clayton’s articles are still available at the top of this page under the masthead. Just click the “Archive” link.

Plus, you’ll find some very valuable information in the “Copywriters Tools” section. In this section you’ll find our extensive Direct Response Glossary, Interviews with some of the top copywriters in the field and recommendations from Clayton on what you should be reading.

I’ll look forward to hearing from you!

Yours for Every Success,

Wendy Makepeace

General Manager

The Total Package

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3 Things to Consider Before Launching a New Product

Whether you're launching a product for the first time or revealing a new collection, the process of getting the word out and driving conversion can be intimidating and overwhelming. Once you consider naming your product, financing, manufacturing and marketing, the prospect of launching a new product can create stress for even the most level-headed and accomplished entrepreneur

See also: 4 Ways to Improve Your CRM

Below, we outline a few tips from industry experts about the important factors to bring into focus before launching a new product

1. Determine What Customers Want

This may seem basic, but before you go through the trouble of developing and launching a new product, you should do considerable research to ensure that there is a place for your product in the market. You might have a revolutionary and awe-inspiring product in mind, but if no one is willing to pony up the cash for it, you're out of luck (and you've wasted the time and money you spent investing in your idea) Read more...

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3 Netflix Shows Earn 6 Golden Globe Nominations

HBO earned nine nominations, the most for a TV network, for next year's Golden Globes on the strength of its Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra. Online streaming darling Netflix wasn't too far behind, snagging six nods during Thursday's nominations ceremony

Netflix — which made history in September when its original series House of Cards became the first web-only series to win an award during a Primetime Emmys — grabbed four Golden Globes nominations for the political thriller, including Best Drama, Best Actor (Kevin Spacey), Best Actress (Robin Wright) and Best Supporting Actor (Corey Stoll) Read more...

More about Music, Films, Netflix, Tv, and House Of Cards



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Coders Trade Secrets on the Smartest Corner of the Internet

There's a niche market for everything — curly hair, cat apps, photos that only last a couple of seconds. And for the millions of programmers that work behind the scenes to give all those offbeat obsessions a digital place to live, they, too, have their own corner of the Internet: Stack Overflow.

In this programmer's den, questions with expert answers are the norm. Having a specific problem with Java? Type your question into a search engine and, more likely than not, you'll be taken to Stack Overflow — where that problem has already been solved by a once-novice like yourself who has now made it into the programming big leagues. Run across a brand new issue with a rarely-used software? Create a new thread on the site and, shortly, you'll have multiple answers from others who have either been in your shoes and figured it out, or who simply took on the challenge when you asked. Read more...

More about Tech, Programming, Stack Overflow, Tech Innovators Series, and Tech Innovators



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MTA Tests Lasers, Thermal Cameras to Stop Subway Deaths

Can high tech gizmos like lasers, motion sensors, thermal cameras and smart video software prevent people from dying on the subway tracks?

The New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) wants to find out. The authority is working on a pilot program to evaluate four different systems to detect when somebody falls on the tracks and stop trains from hitting the person

See also: Would Automated Trains Have Prevented a Fatal Derailment?

The MTA will install the systems in a subway station to test if they're viable and consider whether to install them throughout the city in hopes of stopping an increasing number of injuries and deaths on the tracks, as first reported by The New York Daily News , and confirmed to Mashable by the MTA Read more...

More about New York City, Subway, Mta, Us World, and Us



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Prankster Brings Snow to the Desert for a Kiss

Snow in the Arizona desert? It sounds like a far-fetched Christmas miracle

But with the help of a few crew members, YouTube prankster Stuart Edge managed to make it happen, and earned a few kisses in the process.

See also: Cold-Hearted Snowman Prank Scares the Snow Out of Shoppers

Edge and and his friend Christian surveyed men and women on the Arizona State University campus about the holidays. The school is located in Tempe, where the average temperature high for December is 68 degrees and snow is extremely unlikely. So when the two asked participants if they would kiss someone in the snow, many said yes. That's when a few behind-the-scenes crew members turned on the hidden snow machine and lowered a sprig of mistletoe on a string. Read more...

More about Youtube, Humor, Christmas, Pranks, and Viral Video



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Gmail Will Never Ask You to 'Display Images Below' Again

Gmail will no longer wait for your permission to "display images below."

Google rolled out improvements to how Gmail handles images on Thursday, specifically related to its automatic display of pictures within emails. From now on, you'll never see that pesky prompt again

See also: 20 Strange and Hilarious Google Street View Sightings

The message was initially aimed to protect Gmail users from unknown senders who may try to compromise the security of your computer or mobile device using images.

Now, all images are checked for viruses and malware ahead of time, so it doesn't matter whether the picture came from someone you knowGoogle is now serving images through its own secure proxy servers, instead of directly from external host servers. Read more...

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Cheers

Here’s your SECOND holiday gift

… to start your New Year off with a bang!

Dear Business Builder,

The New Year is officially here, and Clayton is getting back in the proverbial saddle after a much-needed break.

But that doesn’t mean he isn’t thinking about you!

In fact, he told me to give you a special gift to get your New Year off to a revenue-rocketing start. It’s a recording of one of our most popular webinars – a "masters" class Clayton taught with Bob Bly on creating …

Red-Hot Headlines that

Double Your Response

In this power-packed webinar, you get EVERYTHING you need to craft headlines that grab your prospects by the eyeballs and compel them to read every word of your promotion.

Clayton and Bob reveal:

• 4 essential sales every headline MUST make …


• How to instantly engage any prospect – no matter how distracted …


• 21 questions to ask BEFORE you write your next headline …


• John Caples’ 35 headline idea starters …


• David Ogilvy’s headline acid test …


• 15-point headline checklist …


• And much, Much MORE!

Below is a link to a Flash file that

is roughly 86 MB. It’s a streaming file, meaning it has to load some

of the movie before it will play. Please expect some delay before the

movie and audio will start.

Click Here for Red-Hot Headlines that Double Your Response – If you experience difficulties viewing the Flash file, you may also listen in on the MP3 as you follow along with the PDF slide show from Clayton’s PowerPoint presentation.

PDF LINK (3.37 MB) – Feel free to print and then follow along while listening to the audio MP3 file of the webinar linked below.

AUDIO LINK (18.93 MB) – To download the audio, right-click on the audio link above…selecting “Save Target As…” and save the MP3 file to your desktop.

Get the gift that will keep on giving 25%, 35%, even 45% lifts in response and ROI throughout 2011 and beyond!

Happy New Year!



Wendy “The Redhead” Makepeace

Looking for past issues of The Total Package? Click here for our archives.

Want to share or reprint this article? Feel free. Just give us full attribution and a link to our Home Page when you do.

Attribution Statement: This article was first published in The Total Package . To sign-up to receive your own FREE subscription to The Total Package and claim four FREE money making e-books go to www.makepeacetotalpackage.com.

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Ho, Ho, HO!

I have a special holiday gift for you

… and you’re gonna LOVE it!

Dear Business Builder,

It’s the actual audio of an interview I did a while back for my EasyWriters Marketing Club with legendary copywriter/entrepreneur JOSEPH SUGARMAN!

While the club is no longer around, this interview is timeless and remains one of my all-time favorites. So I’ve decided to pass it along to you.

Joe’s direct response exploits are the stuff of legend. And he’s a great case study for copywriters looking to hit the big time with a business of their own AND for business owners and marketers eager to generate a flood of new customers, sales and profits.

So pour yourself a cup of something hot (mine has a little brandy in it) … put your feet up and click play below to give it a listen.

(If a player doesn’t appear below and all you’ve got is that angry, little, red X, click the yellow bar at the top of your browser and select "Run ActiveX Control.")

Or you can right-click here to download it.

It’ll make you money – I promise!

Happy Holidays!



Clayton Makepeace

Publisher & Editor

THE TOTAL PACKAGE

P.S. Watch your inbox next monday for one more holiday gift from me. It’s a doozy!

Looking for past issues of The Total Package? Click here for our archives.

Want to share or reprint this article? Feel free. Just give us full attribution and a link to our Home Page when you do.

Attribution Statement: This article was first published in The Total Package . To sign-up to receive your own FREE subscription to The Total Package and claim four FREE money making e-books go to www.makepeacetotalpackage.com.

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How Coinbase Became the Top-Funded Bitcoin Startup

Less than two years ago, Brian Armstrong had to struggle just to explain the idea of Bitcoin to investors. On Thursday, his startup announced that it had raised what may be the largest funding round to date in the Bitcoin space.

Coinbase, a startup that provides a digital wallet for Bitcoin transactions, revealed that it has raised $25 million in a Series B funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz, the VC firm founded by Netscape founder Marc Andreessen. The funding is seen as another vote of confidence for the Bitcoin startup space from one of the most influential venture capital firms in Silicon Valley. But it's also a testament to the vision that Armstrong and his team had early on Read more...

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'Fake' Interpreter at Mandela's Memorial: I Was Hallucinating Angels

The man accused of faking sign language translations for more than three consecutive hours on stage at a memorial service for Nelson Mandela said he was hallucinating and that he suffers from schizophrenia.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Thamsanqa Jantjie said he saw angels entering the FNB stadium in Johannesburg where the service was held on Tuesday. He added that in the past, his schizophrenia has led him to violent actions

See also: Dancing Through Tears, South Africa Bids Farewell to Mandela

Jantjie gesticulated emphatically during the speeches of U.S. President Barack Obama and other world leaders, seemingly translating their words into sign language for the deaf community. Following the memorial service, however, reports surfaced that Jantjie was not translating accurately at all. Read more...

More about Barack Obama, South Africa, Us World, Us, and World



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Eye-Fi Mobi Cards Can Now Transfer Directly to a Windows PC

All kinds of cameras are going wireless these days, but Eye-Fi made cameras wireless before it was cool. The company's SD cards let users transfer pics wirelessly and effortlessly, and its more recent Mobi cards allow transfers directly to smartphones and tablets running iOS or Android.

You can now add Windows tablets to that list since Eye-Fi just launched its Windows receiver software for the Mobi cards. The software is still in beta and Mobi users can download it for free, although Eye-Fi says final pricing hasn't been determined.

See also: 20 Epic Space Photos From Astronaut Chris Hadfield Read more...

More about Windows, Eye Fi, Cameras, Tech, and Gadgets



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Instagram Direct Brings Private Sharing to Individuals, Groups

Instagram announced Thursday a new feature called Instagram Direct, which allows users to share private pictures and videos directly to friends.

Instagram Direct gives users a more personalized way to share moments with a smaller group of people and not all followers. The app update is available for iOS download and Android starting today and is still in beta for Windows Phone.

See also: 25 Most-Followed Users on Instagram [PICS]

The company unveiled the news, which was in line with rumors,

during a press event in New York City. It created fanfare over today's festivities by sending physical Instagram images printed on canvas to members of the press. Read more...

More about Apps, Instagram, Social Media, and Apps Software



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How to Watch the Instagram Event Live

Live streaming video by Ustream

Instagram's mysterious press event kicks off in New York City on Thursday morning, and fortunately for photo fans, you can watch it all live.

Whether it's the launch of the highly-anticipated Instagram app or the unveiling of other new features, the event will be live streamed starting at 10 a.m. ET.

See also: 12 Most Cliché Photos on Instagram

Although nobody knows what exactly the company will unveil, it's assumed to be significant: Instagram cofounder and CEO Kevin Systrom will be present.

Instagram also created fanfare over today's festivities by sending physical Instagram images printed on canvas to members of the press Read more...

More about Instagram, Kevin Systrom, and Social Media



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