A Copywriting Principle that’s Becoming Vital for SEO
June 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment
For a while now, I’ve been using this blog as a pulpit for preaching to anyone who’ll listen on the benefits of great content.
Building traffic to your website is one thing. But you still have to consider what you’re going to do when visitors arrive.
Are you merely going to offer them the same self congratulatory copy they’ll find in your brochure? Or offer them useful content that answers their questions, demonstrates your expertise and builds trust in your business?
Well, thankfully my clarion call for investing in great content is now being taken up by the SEO brigade. No longer is SEO merely about keywords and begging for back links.
Now having content that people find useful and want to share is becoming vital if you want to improve your search engine ranking.
Focus on the reader, rather than where to place keywords
Last week I posted about some of the changes taking place in how Google ranks sites, and why human behaviour is becoming a key factor in its algorithm.
Increasingly, it appears as though it’s websites with sticky content, that engages readers for longer, gets bookmarked and shared on social media sites, that are experiencing a boost to their search ranking.
So to improve your exposure, your website needs content that assists people’s buying decisions or helps solve a problem. Luckily, this is something copywriters are adept at providing.
A key principle of copywriting is that it should focus on the needs, desires and pains of the reader, rather than praising yourself.
If Google is grading sites based on how people engage with their content then copy focused on the needs of the reader, rather than your own, is becoming vital for improving your position in the search results.
Should Your Website’s Copywriting be Informative or Persuasive?
May 19, 2009 | 4 Comments
“For six months I read all the car ads in search of information. All I found was fatuous slogans and flatulent generalities…If their engineering was as incompetent as their advertising, their cars would not run ten miles without a breakdown.” – David Ogilvy
With magazines and TV struggling to cope with haemorrhaging ad revenue (and competition from the internet), it’s easy to get sucked into thinking that persuasive copy isn’t what people want to read.
Today’s consumer is more cynical of sales messages than ever, and can get annoyed when their attention is wasted on content that has nothing of value to offer.
So does the approach of your website’s copywriting need to adjust accordingly?
Should your content focus on hard facts, product info and objectively written cases studies?
Or does persuasive copy, with its slogans and emotion driving power words, still have a role to play?
Facebook and the rejection of advertising
For years Facebook has been struggling to work out how to monetise itself, and to pluck dollars from its millions of members. But how do you extract money from an audience that hates sales messages and thinks the entertainment should be free?
Facebook’s failure to generate revenue from its ads, despite its massive user base, reflects how people ignore, reject and refuse to respond to blatant sales messages online.
People use the web for information, not advertising, and like having control over what they want to consume. So, an effective way of engaging people with your website is to feed this hunger for informative, useful content.
The benefits of informative copywriting
Publishing useful, informative content on your website offers numerous benefits:
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Improves your search engine ranking for your keyword phrases
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Increases traffic
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Keeps visitors engaged with your business for longer
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Assists your prospect’s buying decisions
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Positions yourself as a knowledge leader
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Builds trust and confidence in your expertise
With so many benefits to choose from, informative copywriting can indeed be effective at converting browsers into buyers (even if we don’t have a quantifiable ROI for it yet).
So, does emotion driven persuasive copywriting still have a role to play? Or will the whiff of a sales message have visitors running for the door?
Why people buy
It’s easy to jump on the anti-advertising bandwagon and think that all people really want to know is the nuts and bolts of what something does and why they should buy. But the fact is people still make buying decisions based on the same impulses they always have: emotions.
Along with useful info, your website needs to satisfy your prospects’ emotional needs, with a persuasive pitch weaved amongst your website’s words.
Now, this doesn’t mean using hype, exaggeration and fakery to seduce prospects into falling in love with your brand – people hate it when they think they’re being sold a lie.
Instead, your copy should present a clear, logical argument which states the reasons why people should buy your product or service backed up with emotionally charged imagery of what their life would be like if they click ‘buy’.
The strategy of combining useful, informative content with a persuasive pitch is already used by legions of eBook and digital product sellers. Whilst I can’t promise that using these tactics will make you an internet millionaire (although plenty would), combining logic and emotion is a potent mix for turning clicks into sales.
So, should your website’s copywriting be informative or persuasive? The answer is both.
Latest from the bda blog
- What Nobody Told Gordon Brown about YouTube and Social Media
- What Advertisers Can Learn from Susan Boyle
- Why Celebrity Endorsements Can Give Your Brand the X Factor
Grow Your Subscribers with this Unblockable Pop-up WordPress Plugin
February 18, 2009 | 5 Comments
My persuasive writing eBook is currently in the operating room undergoing surgery.
The different parts didn’t assemble as neatly as I’d hoped. I started off discussing business writing in general but by chapter seven I’d started focusing on sales letter and landing page copywriting.
So I’m now in the process of cutting unwanted material with a hacksaw and implanting fresh words to try and create the eBook I’d planned.
Whilst it’s still on the operating table, I thought I’d investigate how I can use my free eBook to convert visitors into subscribers.
I’ve noticed in recent months that more websites (and not just blogs) are using pop-up subscription boxes to signup visitors to their newsletter or RSS feed.
As every internet marketer knows, few people are going to buy your product or service on the first visit. So you need to be able to maintain contact and build a relationship over time; using a pop-up subscription box makes signing up visitors to receive your content that little bit easier.
Unblockable (for now)
After a brief search, I stumbled upon a free WordPress plugin for creating a subscription pop-up screen.
The MaxBlogPress Unblockable Pop-up plugin is a breeze to install and start using. You simply upload and activate as you would a normal plugin, and then you create your Pop-up within minutes using the straightforward editor.
You can specify your pop-up’s size, how you’d like it to appear and (most importantly) how frequently you’d like it to display.
Mine in action:
Whilst the temptation might be to flash up your offer at every opportunity, obtrusive pop-ups can be as annoying as a pushy salesman and risk causing visitors to leave and never come back.
So I’d recommend displaying your ad once or twice and then allow visitors to browse in peace.
Unfortunately I don’t think it’s going to be possible to use the plugin to to give away my eBook without using a separate autoresponder, so I’ll probably just add the eBook as a link in the footer of future posts.
Hopefully if the surgery is successful my eBook will be out of the operating theatre and ready to start seeing visitors next week.
Business Blogging/Content Marketing Campaign Tips
October 29, 2008 | 2 Comments
Last week I offered some advice on why businesses of all kinds (whether you’re a one man band or continent spanning corp) should consider starting a content marketing campaign. People are constantly searching the web for answers, so if you can provide useful information in a way that promotes your expertise then you can increase the chance of turning a prospect into a customer.
So how do you go about it?
Get WordPress
Unless your web developers were prudent enough to equip your website with a content management system, you’ll need somewhere to post your articles to. My entire website is built using WordPress, so obviously I’m a big fan. Here are some of the reasons why you should consider using WordPress as well:
Easy to use – you’ll need some basic techie know-how to upload the files onto your server and create a database; however, the instructions are clear enough that you should be up and running within an hour. Once installed you’ve got a dashboard interface you can log into from where you can fiddle with the settings and adjust how your blog works and looks.
Customisable - you’ll want WordPress to reflect your branding and feature your logo; there are thousands of free themes you can easily customise or you can pickup a professional looking design for a reasonable price. My own multiple page website is a customised version of Brian Gardner’s Revolution theme.
Plugins – WordPress has a global community of developers diligently creating programs to expand WordPress’ functionality and make it ever more powerful. Popular plugins are available to optimise your blog for keywords, enable your articles to be easily bookmarked and to create an autoresponder for your favourite posts.
Capture email addresses – visitors can easily subscribe by email or RSS to your blog so you can maintain contact and build confidence in your expertise over time. Remember that less than 5% of visitors are likely to buy your product on the first visit, so don’t let all your extra traffic go to waste.
What to write
A common question asked by businesses is what should they write about? Well, you certainly shouldn’t use your blog as a vanity outlet and just talk about yourself. People search the web for answers and advice to assist their buying decisions; they don’t want to hear about office politics or how much money you made last year.
Instead, you should focus on the customer. Provide valuable content which shows empathy for their problems and subtly presents your product as the solution. What are the common questions people ask customer services or your sales teams? What are the hurdles you need to remove in case they trip up a sale?
Along with articles offering advice, you could include case studies of how you’re helped solve a problem, provide insight on the news and discuss wider topics within your industry.
Provide useful, valuable content which is focused on helping the customer, whilst weaving your sales message between the words.
Spreading the news
Unfortunately, running a blog isn’t a case of just building it and they will come. Whilst a few might absent mindedly stumble onto your posts from Technorati or another blog search engine, you need to throw your content out there in order to reel people back into your website.
Luckily, many publishing organisations are getting clued up to the fact that more people are reading their publications online. My advice? Compile a list of the trade magazines in your industry and then see which ones have websites accepting submissions.
Publishers know they need readers to make repeated visits if they want them clicking on the ads, so they also need a steady stream of fresh content to lure them back with. If they don’t already accept submissions, send them a politely worded email offering free content in exchange for a byline and a backlink.
If you’re a regular Copywriter’s Crucible reader you might be interested in knowing about a few of the places I submit my posts to:
Marcom Professional – create a profile, add your RSS feed address and your posts will be republished automatically
Internet Marketing NewsWatch – you can send them your URL and a brief summary to get a backlink from this popular site
Marketing Service Talk – part of a network of sites where you can register your details and email articles to the editor for publication
Small Business Brief – a business focused social bookmarking website
Business Exchange – Business Week’s social bookmarking site where you can submit marketing focused articles
Junta42 – accepts content marketing focused articles and a new target on my weekly list
The lesson I’ll leave you with is that business blogging/content marketing is a long-term commitment, and you shouldn’t expect a burst in traffic and sales overnight.
However, the nature of marketing is changing and consumers are increasingly demanding useful information in exchange for their time. Providing valuable content can be a differentiater and a key advantage in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
Copywriter, PR Writer or Brand Journalist? You Decide
October 21, 2008 | 8 Comments
Matthew Stibbe of bad language fame recently blogged about the difficulty of defining what he does at dinner parties. Should he say he’s a writer (and risk disappointing the dinner table when admitting he’s not the creative kind), a marketing copywriter (when people hear ‘copyright’ and yawn) or a modern day ‘Mad Man’? Well, if you’re a business writer defining what you do is getting complicated, and it’s all thanks to the internet.
A copywriter can be defined as ‘a person employed to write advertising or publicity copy’. However, now that people are using the web as a fountain of knowledge for solving questions and looking up product and service information, copywriters need to add a journalist’s hat to their wardrobe.
Allow me to explain why with the aid of this handy chart (courtesy of Mark Smiciklas at Intersection Consulting):
Prior to the web, businesses were reliant on the traditional media to get their messages heard.
Whether it was paying for magazine inches or mail bombing journalists with press releases, businesses had to constantly push their marketing onto consumers at every opportunity. The thinking being that the more times people read or heard your name the more likely they’d choose your brand when browsing supermarket shelves or flicking through the yellow pages.
Well, times have changed.
Google’s impact on marketing
When you’re looking for answers it’s becoming common to tap a few keywords into Google and then click on the most relevant result. So being on the first page when people tap in your product or service name can be like tapping into an oil well, with seemingly limitless reserves.
So how can you get setup and drilling on the first page? Well, you could spend your budget on pay-per-click ads (a short-term solution which receives less clicks in the UK compared to the natural results), pay an SEO agency a monthly fee or you could invest in valuable content.
Valuable content keeps your website updated with useful, relevant information and can attract links from other sites, the two keys to unlocking a page one ranking.
Useful content which answers questions and solves problems can also help convert browsers into buyers because sticky content keeps visitors glued to your website longer, giving you more time to build a relationship with them.
This is the ‘new marketing’ you might have heard so much about: using the web to engage the shared passions and interests of your customers. Marketing isn’t one way anymore, but an ongoing ‘conversation’ between a business and its customers in which the language is that of transparency, relevancy and value rather than sales spiel and corporate speak.
Customers want to engage with businesses which help to solve their problems and present answers to their questions, exactly what great content can achieve.
The only drawback for businesses is that they now need to find someone to write all this great content for them, which is where you come in.
Are you a copywriter, PR writer or brand journalist?
Great content sells through education. It responds to the information needs of customers, allows them to sleep better at night and soothes their pain. It’s not about praising the business, but focusing on the customer.
Whilst thinking about the customer instead of the product might seem a waste of words to some old school marketers, the fact is that useful content is what people want to read. They want storytelling, editorial and honest answers which will help their buying decisions, not a sales pitch.
So whether you call yourself a copywriter, PR writer or brand journalist, being able to engage customers with valuable content, which relies on the soft approach rather than the hard sell, is a skill that’s going to be in demand.
Brand journalism might have first been coined by McDonalds’ global marketing officer, but it has got nothing to do with peddling cheap junk which leaves people hungry soon afterwards. Brand journalism is about offering high quality information in exchange for attention, and is how businesses need to think about marketing online.
Procter and Gamble continue to be the poster child for engagement marketing, but the UK’s TopSkips and Englishcut are two smaller scale examples just waiting to be imitated.
But don’t just take my word for it. Here are a couple of recent podcasts in which two of the internet’s smartest marketing brains discuss the importance of great content now and in the future:
David Meerman Scott author of ‘The New Rules of Marketing & PR’
Joe Pulizzi from Junta42 author of ‘Get Content get Customers’
Next week I’ll offer some tips of my own for launching and running a content marketing campaign. But I’ll leave picking a new job title up to you.
WordPress Autoresponder Plugin Released
October 6, 2008 | 11 Comments

Do you wish you could do more with posts you spent hours researching and writing only to see them disappear into the dark depths of your archives? Well, now you can thanks to a new autoresponder plugin for WordPress.
Whilst autoresponders are nothing new, the best thing about this plugin is that enables you to create and automatically send out emails from your blog for FREE. So no need to sign up to a monthly subscription if you just want to get more use out of old content by repackaging it as a newsletter.
Admittedly, the free version is light on features (e.g. you can only create one email series at a time) so you might want to consider upgrading to their paid version for more bells and whistles. However, if you’ve got a WordPress blog and would like to start experimenting with email marketing then this gives you everything you need.
So start digging through your archives for the forgotten gems you’d like to see unearthed and given more time in the limelight. A newsletter can enhance the marketing power of your blog because, as any internet marketer knows, the ‘the money is in the list’, and emailing useful content can dramatically increase your website’s sales.
Here are a few reasons why:
Maintain contact – The vast majority of visitors to your site aren’t ready to buy. By some estimates, you’d be lucky to sell to more than 1% of targeted visitors. However, a free newsletter offering useful information enables you to maintain contact with prospects long after they’ve left.
Qualified leads – The opt in form enables you to build a list of potential customers. The fact that they’ve opted in and taken action indicates that they’re already interested in what you have to say.
Relationship building – Providing useful, relevant content on a regular basis enables you to get closer to prospects. People like to do business with those they like and trust, and email marketing can enable you to speak personally and directly to them as individuals.
More personal – An inbox is a private place closely guarded from uninvited intruders. Being granted entry to this personal place means whatever you say will be listened to more intently than the sales pitch on your website.
Conversion – The content you provide enables you to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise, which in turn enhances your credibility and encourages prospects to become customers.
Multifunctional – Email is regarded as one of the most potent tools in your internet marketing arsenal (after copywriting of course). It can build relationships, enhance your brand and increase sales.
Next week I’ll share a few tips for writing newsletters and emails that get delivered, read and acted upon.
Junta 42 releases eBook: ‘How to attract and retain customers with content NOW’
August 5, 2008 | Leave a Comment
A great blog if you’re a believer in the benefits of valuable content for converting browsers into buyers (which I am), Junta 42 has released a new eBook on content marketing and why you should implement it as part of your marketing strategy.
The eBook’s 11 pages long, and provides some inspiring case studies and excellent advice on getting your campaign rolling.
Here are a few points I scribbled down:
- 2007 Forrester research showed that 90% of purchasing decisions begin online
- Content marketing is the art of understanding what your customer needs to know and then delivering it in a relevant and compelling way
- If you deliver relevant content you’ll become a trusted resource
- The internet means prospects are no longer reliant on the traditional media to meet their information needs
- With access to information at their fingertips, buyers are now more proactive in finding content to help them make smarter buying decisions
- The reduction in editorial staff of traditional media organisations means businesses can fill the gap. The demand for content isn’t diminishing, it’s increasing
- Content should have a call to action and your campaign must be measurable e.g. sign up to a newsletter or request a trial
So if I haven’t already convinced you of the marketing benefits of valuable content then please download the eBook and allow Joe Pullizi from Junta42 to have a try.
10 Sticky Content Tips for Keeping Visitors Glued to Your Website
July 31, 2008 | 2 Comments
[Image courtesy MarkDM]
Brochure websites need to be consigned to a museum as relics of the internet’s evolutionary history. There I’ve said it. Websites, and the thinking behind them, has evolved a lot over the last few years. If you just want to recreate your company brochure into pixel form then, please, go ahead. But the longer you can keep prospects on your website the more time you’ve got to build a relationship.
People surf the web for information. Not sales messages. So your website needs to be interesting and ‘sticky’ if you want to engage your visitors’ interest and keep them glued to your pages.
Here are my ten tips for making your own part of the web so sticky that you’ll be politely asking visitors to leave so you can close for the day:
1. Simple navigation – Make sure it’s easy to explore and has a familiar navigation. Much like the layout of a shop, you want to ensure visitors know where they are and can swiftly find the section they want without getting lost. Having a search box is essential for those who’d prefer to go straight to the helpdesk for directions.
2. Educate - People search the web for information. Not advertising. So rather than scare them away with shallow sales spiel, you should be looking to answer the questions that led them to your site in the first place(based on 80% of your traffic coming from searches on Google). Provide content that sells through education and builds trust e.g. case studies, company news, insight on your industry and advice on how to use your product.
3. Tell a story – the internet can seem an unfriendly, robotic place, so give your website a personality by telling visitors your story. Who are the people pulling the levers behind the scenes, what’s your history and what are your dreams for the future? A cheerful ‘about us’ page is crucial for building trust, rather than a platform for boasting about how great you are.
4. Feed your visitors’ appetite for information – create a directory of articles or, better yet, a blog, which visitors can easily search for answers to their questions and learn more about your expertise at the same time. It will help boost your Google ranking too.
5. Compelling content – Is copy the same as content? I’ll let others debate that elsewhere. But for the purposes of making a website sticky then applying copywriting tactics is a good idea. Create content that’s compelling, drives visitors to further explore the site and contains a call to action, such as subscribe, contact or, best of all, buy.
6. Subscription options – Most visitors aren’t comfortable handing over their credit card details the first time they visit. So make it easy for them to subscribe to your blog or newsletter so you can develop the sales process over time. As the old adage goes – ‘People like to do business with those they like and trust’, and providing regularly updated content of value is a great way of building trust and confidence in your expertise.
7. Customer reviews – People switch off when they think they’re being sold to. But they do listen to each other. Customers reviews can provide social proof of the quality of your products/service as well as keep people engaged writing their own.
8. Interactivity – Surveys and polls can provide another tool for enabling people to interact with your site. Make them short but sweet, and ask questions that provide insight into how you can improve.
9. Usability testing – Even when you think your site is finished there’s endless tweaking that can be done. Ask friends, family or impoverished students to test your website for you. Can they find the answers to their questions and have you gained their trust when they visit? Watching how others interact with your site will provide invaluable info on what areas gleam and which need some extra polishing.
10. Measure, tweak and repeat – Use Google analytics to monitor how people are engaging with the site. Knowing which pages are most popular and which switch visitors off can help you fine tune your content and work out the path your prospects tend to take before becoming customers.
This post was inspired by a similar article I wrote for bda’s blog. It’s worth a read for reinforcing the value of content for engaging visitors and keeping them glued to your website.
Why Customer Service is the New Marketing
July 8, 2008 | 1 Comment
[image courtesy of ansik]
Whether it’s in customer reviews, blogs or forums, people are talking about products and influencing buying decisions. Blaring out sales messages merely antagonises skeptical prospects, who place their trust in the objective advice of their peers.
Research is showing that the ROI of traditional marketing methods is falling, whilst customer interaction is increasing. This would suggest that an adjustment to the bean counter is needed to how marketing dollars are spent.
Perhaps it’s time to stop thinking about just ‘joining the conversation’ in marketing to an online world, but also to be useful in how you communicate. People want insightful advice and information of value. They want constructive customer service, not sales messages.
Engagement offers a more profitable equation
A recent Financial Times article ‘Can Web 2.0 help to build your brand?’ discussed how the costs of marketing in the IT sector are continuing to rise, whilst revenue is continuing to fall. With half of marketing budgets being spent on traditional methods (advertising, sponsorship, public relations, events etc), it was suggested that engaging with Web 2.0 tools (blogs, forums etc) could provide the answer to a more profitable equation.
The FT gave examples of Dell and SAP, who’ve both benefited from engaging through customer service, rather than branding, to build a closer affinity with prospects. Dell have recorded a 26% decrease in negative comments after providing advice on replacing fire prone laptop batteries, whilst SAP have created a self healing community in which members do SAP’s job of providing customer service to each other.
SAP’s example shows how people are interacting over their shared passions, which is what companies should be doing if they want to be of value to prospects. People want to be educated and they want authenticity in how businesses communicate, not just a well publicised logo.
Be useful to earn loyalty
Whilst the web savvy IT sector are the first to experience this shift, consumers interacting over shared passions is only going to spread as more become comfortable navigating the web to find answers. Branding is now not just claiming product superiority, but about how you engage this passionate online audience.
Be useful and people will reward you with their loyalty (the subject of my eBook incidentally), which is what marketing should be trying to win.
In the FT article it was estimated that 36% of enterprise websites now use blogs, customer reviews or discussion boards, with another 27% expected to join. Do you want to be part of the 37% left behind?
Want to attract higher paying clients? Offer them some luxuries.
April 23, 2008 | 2 Comments
(Image courtesy Betsssssy)
Last month a group of US investors announced their plans to blow $200 million on a chain of 50 luxury movie theatres. Whilst this might sound mad to anybody in the business world, people always want to be entertained, and when things are grim it’s indulging in the small pleasures in life that can chase away the blues.
What’s more likely to make bank managers spit out their coffee is that the movie theatres will be charging nearly double the entry price of their competition.
Village Roadshow believe there’s 10 million ‘upscale and affluent’ Americans who would be happy to pay $35 for a higher quality of service, which includes padded armchairs with footrests, digital cinema projection, concierge service, valet parking and food that’s a touch more upmarket than buttered popcorn and nachos.
Despite an imminent recession, they’re confident they will be able to attract higher paying clients with luxuries and additional services not provided by the cheaper, functional theatre down the road.
The same principle should apply to marketing your writing services.
To justify higher rates, offer a higher quality service
If you want to break out of the $10 keyword article writing sweatshop of monotonous, unsatisfying work for low wages, then start thinking about how you can market the luxuries your service offers.
This revolves around becoming an value-added copywriter, as frequently discussed by The Copywriter Underground. What can you offer a client beyond the words?
Here are some luxuries you can easily learn about and add to your portfolio of services:
Content marketing – providing a steady stream of useful, informative information to convert browsers into buyers, attract links from other sites and build your client’s credibility as a knowledge leader.
Case studies – is your client providing real life examples of how they’ve helped real life customers solve a problem? Are they mining their customer service history for success stories (now a key differentiater in a world where people trust each other more than a marketing)?
Story telling – developing the business’ identity beyond the ‘About Us’ page. What are their founding ideals and do they differentiate themselves everyday?
eBook/white paper – demonstrating credibility and expertise by providing downloadable useful information. In exchange for helping to solve their problem, readers are more likely to reward a business with their loyalty.
Newsletters – writing a monthly newsletter highlighting recent achievements, new product information and industry news is a great way of keeping people in the sales cycle long after their first visit to the website.
You’re not just a writer – you’re also an internet marketer
Whilst businesses struggle to come to terms with marketing on the internet, you could be their guiding light providing the words and expertise to illuminate a path through the gloom and to greater rewards on the other side.
There are businesses crying out for not only competent writers, but also guidance in how to run cost effective online marketing strategies.
Offer a client a writing service that includes luxuries and benefits beyond what they’ll find elsewhere and they’re more likely to award you their business.
There are plenty out there who want more from you than a bucket of popcorn and being squashed into their seat. They want luxury and are happy to pay for it.










