How To Make Readers Love Your Ideas

When genuine passion moves you, say what you've got to say, and say it hot. - D.H. Lawrence

Who doesn't want to be the one at the party, telling the story nobody can resist?

Even better, how about telling the story you know everybody will repeat tomorrow?

It's a great feeling, when it happens.

And I've just started reading a book that might help you make sure it happens more often.

It's called "Made to Stick," by brothers Chip and Dan Heath. I must have missed it the first time around. It came out in 2007.

But already, as I read, I'm thinking... wow, imagine how many people I could have protected from boring storytelling (mostly mine) in the time since.

Even more, though, I see huge parallels in the book that work for us, as copywriters.

Let me show you what I mean...

WHAT IT MEANS TO "MAKE IT STICK"

When the Heath's talk "stickiness," they're talking about those messages that people can't resist repeating.

You know them.

In fact, the book itself starts with one -- an urban legend about the guy who wakes up in a tub full of ice, one kidney short, after a bad date.

Urban legends are great examples of "sticky" tales because they best get remembered and passed around, solely on the steam they pick up from those that stumble across them.

And like I said, wouldn't you want to tell a story -- or better, write an ad -- that could do that?

Of course you would.

"Stickiness" in itself won't make you rich, of course. But the nature of a sticky tale or marketing message is not just that it gets passed around, but also that readers WANT to pass it around because it instantly engages and hangs on to their imaginations.

Imagine, say the Heath brothers, hearing the story about the guy who wakes up in the tub of ice. He sees a cell phone and a note telling him to call 911. "Stay calm," says the 911 operator, "we've seen this before -- one of your organs has been harvested."

Not true, by the way. But what are the chances you could relate that same story to a friend, a week from today? Pretty good. And I've only given you the short version.

Compare that to a memo from the boss or an ad from a business that's jammed with nothing but charts, statistics, and multi-syllabic claims.

Instantly forgettable.

The case I'm making -- and I credit it to what I expect to find in the book -- is that the same principles that make stories and other messages "sticky" can also make
your ad copy more powerful.

In fact, let's break it down right now, right here, and see what we come up with...

SIX "STICKY" PRINCIPLES, SIX SECRETS TO GREAT ADS

Not to preempt the impact of what you'll find in the book (and I encourage you to check it out), "Made to Stick" narrows lasting message power to six characteristics.

As I read a summary of all six, I couldn't help but notice how well they matched six big secrets to writing great copy... including a few secrets you've already seen written up here before.

For instance...

GREAT MESSAGES ARE SIMPLE:

The Heaths' #1  principle is that simple messages stick best. Common sense? Absolutely. And a great parallel to what my copy colleagues and I often talk about as the "Power of One."

In short, avoid giving too many points -- even great ones -- when you can. Instead, scale back to the single most important "takeaway" message. One great insight is much easier to absorb than a dozen (or even six... ahem) very good ones.

GREAT MESSAGES SURPRISE:

"Made to Stick" calls this the value of "unexpectedness." In the world of copy, we might call it instead the value of "uniqueness." Especially as in the famous "USP" or "Unique Selling Proposition."

Why does it matter so much to make your message new? Simple. Who wants to listen to the same old tales or promises, again and again? Why stick around for details
you can get anywhere?

Every seasoned copywriter knows that curiosity can be as powerful a motivator as a big promise, especially when it's relevant to what you know you're selling.

GREAT MESSAGES FEEL REAL:

The book calls this "concreteness" and makes a great analogy that you might remember: years back, a food researcher wanted to get across that movie popcorn was full of saturated fat.

He could have made his case with graphs and charts. He could have spelled out the fat content in milligrams. But he realized that wasn't enough. So instead he compared it to eating the equivalent in Big Macs.

Those kinds of analogies are more than just colorful. They make an idea feel real, by connecting something new to something instantly personal and understandable.

I would add that it's not just the vividness that makes a message stick, but also what we teach in copy workshops as "specificity." Details make readers soak up stories in a way generalities cannot.

GREAT MESSAGES ARE BELIEVABLE:

In sales copy, a lot of what you'll do is bend over backwards to prove your claims. Testimonials, studies, hard numbers, mainstream media quotes, photos of a bank statement or sharply contrasting "before and after" shots... there are lots of ways to do it.

And many times, it's only by making this case that you'll make your sale. But, warns the book, be careful. What you're doing isn't forcing an audience to consent to your claims.

Rather, you're putting them in a spot where they can feel like they've decided for themselves. Ask yourself, you might say, how much better would your own life be if you could do what my product claims you can do?

And maybe even, how much worse could it get if you pass up on this opportunity? And then make it real for them, by way of those proofs and similar examples.

GREAT MESSAGES GET YOU WORKED UP:

Why do fundraising letters always start out with a personal story? Because the more they mail out those requests, the more they realize: you get more money when you make it personal.

Statistics on how many people died in the earthquake in Haiti or how many buildings fell might make your eyes pops. But it's the story about a little girl who lost her mother that gets people to open checkbooks.

That's because we're programmed to get emotional when messages hit closer to home -- suddenly we're not talking vague millions, but your neighbor, your daughter, your friend, your wife. We can see that. More importantly, we can feel it.

Every kind of copy message works the same way. Tap emotions first and fast, get personal -- it's the only way to get doors to open consistently.

GREAT MESSAGES USE STORIES:

This might be the most instinctive "stickiness" secret of all. Like so many books in this vein, "Made to Stick" opens first with a string of stories, each of them proving the point better than the last.

There's no fighting it -- and no reason to fight it, either -- people love a good story. Why? Because there's no better, more painless way to package a message.

Stories seep into your conscious like good pop songs; with riffs and hooks that catch, and strings of notes you're hard-pressed to forget. Stories flow automatically.

They give your imagination a backdrop. And a map to follow, so you can tell yourself and others the same story -- and message -- over and over again.

Does every great message have to be built around a great story? No. But it doesn't hurt to have the story that tells it all, waiting in your arsenal.

I'm sure I'll come back with more from "Made to Stick" as I get into it. Already, in fact, I've got a few more CR issue ideas percolating along those lines.

'til then, be sure to get a copy and check it out for yourself. I've already added it to my list of "recommended reads" on the Copywriter's Roundtable website:

http://copywritersroundtable.com/further-reading

Contributed by John Forde
Guest Contributor

Is CRM Right For You? A 15-Minute Quiz

Do you believe in magic?

Marketers tend to. They are suckers for miracle cures - and here's why.

We all know our customers are lazy. That's why the words "quick" and "easy" always increase readership of any headline.

Show them how they can do something - lose weight, learn a language - with less effort, and you probably have a winning proposition.

You must package it well, though - preferably with an impressive name.

So it's not listening to and repeating words and phrases; it's "programmed learning". That makes you feel you're doing something important, doesn't it?

And guess what? Marketers are just as lazy as customers - hardly surprising, as they are customers every day. Most (as I learned from asking them to define it in many countries) are is too lazy to even learn what marketing is - let alone what "direct marketing" means.

Anyhow, that word "direct" ... doesn't it sound distressingly close to direct mail? And we all know what that means, don't we? Junk. Ugh. That certainly doesn't sound very flattering, does it?

CRM sounds much better. People love it. Though I cannot for the life of me see how it differs from what I've always done.

Mind you, it took me about nine years to get any good at what I do, whereas a few years ago Oracle's ads said: "Start today and have global customer relationship management in 19 days."

Sounds a lot better than hard work, doesn't it? Mr. Super CRM would whiz into their office and take care of everything for them! No wonder it took off.

Many firms started CRM divisions before even knowing what the heck it really was - or meant to their business.

No wonder that a few years after it first came into fashion, the US magazine Advertising Age reported that over 70% of firms who tried it said it didn't work.

I shall discuss why in a moment, with some good, practical advice you can act on from somebody who has specialised in this field.

In the meantime, here's a little reminder that miracles only happen in the movies.



The word 'loyalty' is often used about CRM. But as a former chairman of Marks & Spencer observed, "Customers are not loyal nor should they be. We have to earn their loyalty every day".

His firm forgot that and it nearly ruined them.

Sober people know the obvious: nobody sane wants a relationship with their bank or supermarket. They have enough trouble getting on with their families. And a "programme" won't cure any dodgy relationship.

But the intelligent use of data does pay. Here is a good example. Ocado sent my partner Marta this, based on things she had bought before.



CRM schemes fail above all because your business lives or dies on its attitude to customers. And a quick fix doesn't change attitudes.

So here is check list for you. It was put together by my associate Peter Hardingham, who has worked with me on and off for 20 years, and revised by me because I interfere with everything that leaves this office.

Is CRM right for you? A 15-minute quiz

Step 1

Unless you have answered these four questions, there is absolutely NO point in boarding the good ship CRM.

• Do you really know what your customers want?


• Do you know what they think you promise them? Are they the same things?


• Can you clearly identify these desires and beliefs, before and after they have become customers?


• How will you find out? Do so before anything else!

Step 2

Set realistic expectations, and deliver what you promise or you can end up worse off than if you never started.

• Can you deliver what your customers want - and, just as important, what they think you promise?


• If not, what can you deliver now, and in the future?


• If it is in the future, how quickly? And how will you keep them happy in the interim?

Step 3

A customer in the dark is an angry customer. A customer in the know can end up buying more.

• At what points in the purchase process will you tell your customers what they want to know


• About their order?


• To reassure them?

Step 4

• Can you identify the points from step 3 in every customer transaction?


• Are you sure your IT team can deliver?


• If you have retail outlets, can the staff get this information - quickly and easily?

Step 5

Many firms still have separate databases for customer and transactional information If your marketing database can't access both, you're in trouble.

• Can you record what happens at all every point in the transaction?


• On a database all those who may need to know can access?

The moment of truth.

Did you answer the first 5 steps mostly 'yes'? If so, you stand a chance of CRM working for you. If you said mostly 'no', stop right now and get it right.

If you're talking to CRM consultants politely ask them to leave. Their time is expensive, and you'll lose your shirt.

Step 6 - start the ball rolling

• Tell your customers what you plan to do


• Manage their expectations


• Involve, motivate and train all your


• Make sure everyone - particularly retail staff - gets the same respect

Step 7 - attend to detail

Remind yourself what you've promised, and deliver it. Often, essential processes are not part of firms' structures. They don't appreciate what skills and structures you need.

• If this is an incentivised scheme, how will points, miles or other benefits be allocated, captured, and communicated to the customer?


• How will redemptions be handled?

Step 8

Most customers won't tell you they are unhappy. They tell their friends - and walk away.

• Set up a monitoring process in your company


• Make sure you identify any weak links that appear in the chain

Step 9

• Ask your customers how they think you're doing


• Loyalty can improve just by making it easy for them to tell you what they think


• Allow your customers to suggest improvements. It's the best research you'll ever get

Step 10 - it doesn't stop

Don't imagine this is something you just "put in place".

• Keep listening to your customers


• Keep learning from your customers


• Keep refining your system


• Keep training and re-training your people

When should you refer to these questions?

When your IT director says, "We've got this wonderful CRM software..."

When the board says, "That's a brave move you're making there, this CRM stuff..."

Just take out this quiz, and re-read it. You'll know more than many CRM consultants. You might even keep your job.

If that interested you, you might find half an hour with Peter worth your while. I sent him along to three clients a while ago, and all wanted to know more. One - a travel destination - had him on a plane within a week.

Best,
Drayton
www.directmarketingcourse.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com

How I Finally Made A Success Of My Business - And How You Can Do The Same

In october 2006 I decided I'd had enough.

I'd had enough of working for other people and making them the kind of money I could only dream about.

I'd had enough of people looking over my shoulders constantly to ensure they squeezed every drop of blood for the pittance they paid me... even though I worked my butt off.

In fact, in one job my manager actually told me if all the other guys together did half as much work as I did by myself, he'd be a happy bunny. There were eight other people in the team.

Did that satisfy the bosses of the company?

Does spiderman really exist? (Okay, I only used that because I'm a die-hard comic book fan. But you know what I mean).

Anyway, in October 2006 I decided I was going to be self-employed. I was going my own way.

So I called up the relevant government department and told them so.

And I've been self-employed ever since.

Although I think the term self 'unemployed' would be more suitable.

You see, I tried to learn how to make money on the internet. I bought one course after another.

Each time the promise was:

1. I had to spend money to make money


2. "Our course is the best one. And you'll definitely make money with it"

Three years and about $50,000.00 later (no typo), all I had to show for myself was a huge debt, with no ability to pay it back.

I was desperate.

Then, in October 2008 Drayton Bird held his first course in Direct and Digital Marketing through EADIM (European Academy of Direct and Interactive Marketing).

The cost was 3,000 Euros. I couldn't afford it.

So I ended up wasting more money trying to learn more stuff that was no good And getting even deeper in debt on my credit cards.

(funny how we can't afford to pay for something sensible, but can afford to get even more in debt, huh?).

Then in August 2009 I decided enough really was enough.

I borrowed the money from my brother and enrolled on that year's EADIM course.

Was it worth it?

It was the single best investment I've made in all these years of struggling.

In fact, I made back my investment at least 5 times since. And more.

I was so enthusiastic about this course that Drayton Bird himself sent me an email and offered me the chance to work with him.

The result?

Check out this site: www.directmarketingcourse.com

I had a big hand in that copy.

This is what Ross Bowring, a fellow copywriter on the Warrior Forum, said of the copy on this site...

"Rezbi... Bravo! And I've never said "Bravo" to anyone before (!) That's a very nicely written letter. Skillfully communicates benefits with no hype whatsoever. Read the whole thing. Never usually do that. Mightily impressed."

And this is what Drayton said of the same...

Enthusiasm without knowledge is useless. Rezbi is one of those rare and valuable people - a genuine enthusiast who studies. He was hugely valuable to me in working on the promotion for EADIM. The (very complex) landing page is a good example of his work, a great joint effort!

All I can say is this - I got the opportunity to work on this, and on others, as a direct result of going on that course last year. It is, in my opinion, the best course on direct and digital marketing that exists today.

And, if ANYONE is really serious about their career, online or offline - no matter which industry they are in - they would be jumping to get on this course.

Now my question is: How serious are you?

Don't waste any more time or money. Get on this course and - finally - start making a success of your business and career.

If nothing else, at least go and check out the site to see how much I've accomplished as a result of doing this course. And how much you could, too: www.directmarketingcourse.com

Oh, I nearly forgot... if you book before the end of the year, you also get a HUGE 34% discount.

And, if you can't afford that measly sum, you can even pay by monthly installments.

Check it out: www.directmarketingcourse.com

Best,
Rezbi

Improving Aid To Pakistan Through Better Marketing

"Pockets are the most sensitive part of a human being; that's why we need to touch hearts and minds first. - President Lula da Silva of Brazil

The Lede blog has blamed poor marketing for the lack of aid going to Pakistan. And I'm inclined to agree.

It's not just the government of Pakistan to blame (although the President has a lot to answer for with his recent activities).

Here in the UK, I've tried telling people in charities how they should be marketing.

Thankfully, they've taken on board some things. The problem is they haven't done other things which could have made the campaign to raise funds much more successful.

Hearts and minds are what need to be won first before people would be willing to put their hands in their pockets.

We have to show them what is actually happening in Pakistan.

If people don't see the devastation with their own eyes, it's not going to affect their hearts.

They need to see what's happening, not only in photographs, but actual first-hand stories form people who are there.

And they need to see more of them.

It's not enough to send out one or two emails and expect it to be enough.

When there are thousands of people on a charity's list, a lot of people will either not open the email the first time, or they just will not see it.

Or, the first time - or even the first few times - it won't 'touch' their hearts. It may take several emails to affect them

So the more emails that are sent out, the better the chances of them being opened, seen and affecting people where it matters.

The saying, "Out of sight, out of mind," is so true in these types of situations. One of the reasons is that there are so many of them hapenning - natural and man-made (Gaza, for example), that people are gettting numbed to them.

It doesn't seem to matter any more. And that's why we need, more and more, to appeal to their emotions.

Appealing to their logic just won't cut it.

Poor ‘Marketing’ Blamed for Pakistan Aid Shortfall - The Lede Blog - NYTimes.com

Best,
Rezbi
www.directmarketingcourse.com
www.hotbuttoncopywriting.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com

The Tone Of Voice In Copy

Did you know the sounds different letters make can make your copy more or less powerful?

It’s true. Or, at least, it is according to G.W. Freeman.

He wrote an article around 90 years ago where he gives examples. How the letter ‘S’ can make your copy sound ‘faster’. How the letter ‘P’ can give your copy 'power'.

And how the letter ‘H’ can give your copy ‘force’.

Maybe you have other thoughts about this. Let me know what you think.

Meanwhile, take it away G.W.

The Tone Of Voice In Copy

By G. W. Freeman

“EASY to write, hard to read,” was declared by Robert Louis Stevenson to be an axiom of the scrivener's art . . . and advertising writing cannot escape the laws that govern the creation of all effective copy.

Two people utter identical phrases, and one repels by his truculent gruffness, whereas the other with soft and pleasing tones, charms.

That is a matter of tone of voice.

The printed word offers few mechanical devices for indicating stress and   manner, and so the advertising writer must employ words as tools for modifying stress and tone, and by his literary style develop a pleasing tone of voice in his copy.

The pictorial side gets painful thought so as to make the advertisement appeal.

And then the one element that can really appeal to the mind and to the imagination is dismissed with "Make it brief," or "Just talk naturally."

"Natural" copy is the hardest to write. It takes most labor, that is, if it seems natural

For most copy that is written "just like you talk" reads like nothing under heaven.

Here is a piece of copy written "naturally" by an engineer for a manufacturer of rubber belts:

". . . the present day farmer will buy only the best, regardless of initial cost, for experience has taught him that low first costs invariably mean higher ultimate costs."

That's natural writing.

But does it sound as natural as this: "Did you ever buy a likely looking scrub cow only to find that she never gave enough milk to pay for her feed? If you have, you've learned that low first cost does not always pay best. There are scrubs among farm belts, and there are pure-breds, and you know which kind will give you satisfaction."

Professional rhetoricians bid us avoid "alliteration's artful aid."

And yet there is a valid reason why we, as copy writers, should employ it.

Alliteration formed the basis of the early poetry of our race, and that early influence is persistent.

Our forefathers, sitting through long cold evenings in their draughty halls, drank and sang in unison, eagerly beating time to the alliterative syllables of the song.

Consider this stanza from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (937 A.D.):

Her Aethelstan cynig,
eorla drighten beorna beahgifa,
and his brothor eac Eadmund Aethling,
ealdor laugne tir ge slogan aet Saecce,
suorda ecgum.

Vowels alliterated with any other vowels, as in the first and third lines. See how the b's beat through the second line, and the s's through the fourth.

Alliteration is valuable in headlines

"Montreal or Miami, it's all the same to a Marmon," is more effective than "Palm Beach or Quebec, it's all the same to a Marmon."

The value of the alliteration is in its swing and tinkle.

But alliteration is attractive and useful only in headlines. In body text it gives an effect of insincerity.

Consider this bit of copy which appeared in a booklet issued years ago by an advertising agency: "We produce copy that causes prospects to pause, ponder and purchase."

That not only sounds strained, it bears the earmarks of the "smart alec."

RHYME is always to be avoided in headlines, just as every copywriter shuns accidental rhymes in the body of his text

And yet, while rhymed headlines and rhymed text are anathema, rhymed slogans are worth their weight in platinum because they jingle around in the brain like an unforgettable tune:

"The Wilson Label Protects Your Table."

"Read and Write by Emeralite."

These belong right along with

"Thirty days hath September"

and

"Punch, brothers, punch with care, punch in the presence of the passengaire."

And for the same good reason—we can't forget the rhyme.

We all know that words suggest related ideas—connotation. The more pleasing the connotation, the more pleasing the effect of the word.

The classic horrible example once quoted by an otherwise intelligent advertising man was "Make the old home into a new house." And I personally don't believe that any advertising man, not even the boss's younger brother, ever wrote that!

But aside from their connotation, are there any pleasing words—or unpleasing ones?

In and of themselves, pleasant or unpleasant?

THUS there is a displeasing sequence: The liquids, "1" and "r," are closely related in sound, and like people that are closely related, they do not get along well together.

Consider this sentence from a recent "Sunmaid Raisin" page advertisement in the Post:

"If you like delicious, wholesome, full fruited raisin bread."

—

I defy anyone to read that the first time and not say, "delicious, wholesome, full fluited raisin bread," or at least "Full fruited laisin bled."

It's like that classic tongue twister, "The rat ran over the roof with a lump of raw liver in its mouth."

Discordant sounds have their use; however, for the skillful copy writer will employ them when he touches lightly on those conditions which he wishes to appear unpleasant.

Thus a Weed Chain advertisement, which described the "smug" content of the foolish driver who left his chains back in the garage.

But on the positive side of the subject, are there pleasing words?

Who does not roll such words as these under his tongue?

• Power


• Purple


• Promise


• Progress


• Proven


• Providence

And as for "profit"—the greatest of these is Profit.

Closely allied to "v" is "f," and r-p-f is almost as pleasing at r-p-v.

Consider these trade names:

• Paramount Pictures


• Packard


• Peerless


• Pierce Arrow

and

• Ivory Soap

See how they are charged with "r's" and "p's."

Contrast these two pieces of copy —one full of "r's" with one "f" and one "p" and the other a succession of "k" sounds:

"She will be beautiful of course in the rosy future pictured by a mother's dream."

"Wash your hair becomingly, always have it beautifully clean and well kept and it will add more than anything else to your attractiveness."

Now examine this from a recent Jordon offering:

"Nimble, snug and hammock swung close to the skimming road, this fascinating car glides lightly on its way."

Count the "s's".

That's the secret of its speed and action. For "s" is the symbol of the present active verb.

It denotes action.

To speed copy use short words. Short sentences. Short paragraphs. Words filled with s's.

But speed isn't always what we are after.

Sometimes a client prefers that we obtain results—and that often calls for emphasis. To give weight to any point use, a few more words.

"Every drill is inspected 50 times" may be just as true as "Every drill is inspected time and again, thoroughly, painstakingly, and must meet no less than 50 separate tests", but it carries less weight than the longer sentence.

Don't be obsessed by the short-word, "mania". If you want weight, and even if you need a long word for beauty, don't balk at a polysyllable.

Short words aren't necessarily "good old Anglo-Saxon". Latin has given us "mob" and "vest" and "togs".

If you want force, I suggest that you try out a few words with initial "H".

'H' is a forceful letter.

Just open your mouth and let out a "whoop" or a "holler" and you'll see why.

The Greeks called the H-sound a "rough breathing".

Just listen a moment to this list:

• Ha


• Halt


• Hold on


• Hump


• Hey you


• Hark


• Hand it


• Here


• Hack


• Hit


• Hate


• Hell

That gives us a clue to the strength that has been injected into this headline – The Blue Heart guarantees excess rope strength – “The Blue Heart” sounds stronger than the word “strength”.

Best,
Rezbi
www.directmarketingcourse.com
www.hotbuttoncopywriting.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com

Excuses... Excuses... Excuses...

I could come up with plenty of reasons why I haven't been posting to my blog.

However, only one is of any significance - I've been working.

The thing is, I like blogging. I like researching and finding new things to write about.

Most of all, I like to write about things I have to dig up. Things no one else writes about - probably - because it takes 'detective' work. Hence the name 'The Marketing Sleuth'.

I've been working on a project for a very high profile marketer and I've learned so much from him. He just happens to be one of the best marketers and copywriters of the last 50+ years.

But I've missed writing to my blog.

And so, I've decided I'm going to come back and give you more articles on a regular basis.

You may wonder why I decided to write a post explaining my reasons for not keeping my blog updated. Well, the reason is a post by Melinda Brennan on copyblogger called 6 Online Marketing Mistakes that Will Kill Your Business.

I really just wanted to clarify, to myself, that it's not one of those reasons keeping me away.

Go and check out the post. It's an eye-opener for anyone who makes excuses about why they don't succeed.

Best,
Rezbi
www.directmarketingcourse.com
www.hotbuttoncopywriting.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com

How To Use Facebook To Promote Your Blog

I've been using Facebook for a while, but I was never sure how to use it to promote my blog.

So I decided I'd look into into and, lo and behold, who should be thinking the same thing?

Darren Rowse of Problogger.net.

While he posted it over a month ago, this particular post has been very timely for me.

It's called '5 Ways I’m Using Facebook to Drive Traffic, Build Brand and Increase Reader Engagement'.

Now, I know this may look like I'm being lazy, but I'm not... honest.

Rather than copy the whole post - it's quite long and full of valuable information - I advise you to click the link and check it out for yourself.

Go ahead - I gain nothing - except, maybe, your appreciation.

Oh, and while you're at it, you might also want to check this out. Again, like I said, I get nothing out of it except a desire to point you in the right direction.

Best,
Rezbi
www.directmarketingcourse.com
www.hotbuttoncopywriting.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com

Technorati Tags: blog, blogging, facebook, promotion, social marketing

Direct Response Marketing - How It Differs From Other Marketing Disciplines

What Is Direct Response Marketing?

Since even a mature business like advertising is not clearly understood by many of its practitioners you can hardly be surprised that few understand what direct marketing is.

Indeed, whilst preparing this article, I saw that, in a survey of 133 leading American direct marketers, no clear agreement on what the business is emerged.

When the phrase direct marketing comes up, most people, in my experience, immediately think of the medium of direct mail.

Others think of direct marketing as a method of selling, like off -the-page selling.

Others confuse it with a channel of distribution, like mail order.

Producing a definition as simple as ‘Salesmanship in print’ for advertising proved an insuperable task for the industry’s pundits. So much so that (in what I can only assume was a moment of despair) Direct Marketing magazine – then the industry’s leading American organ – summoned not one, but three experts to do so.

The result of their labours was placed at the beginning of every issue of the magazine.

It occupied two half pages, featuring one of those gloriously complicated flow charts which always throw me into a state of utter confusion.

You may consider the need for a simple definition unimportant; indeed, few people using direct marketing bother to speculate on what it really is.

But I consider it crucial.

Imagine spending millions of pounds without clearly understanding what you are spending them on.

Not an imaginary scenario, I assure you.

In fact, not long ago, I recall a debate taking place with a leading automobile company, which we shall call Ford for the sake of argument, covering many countries and multifarious marketing problems.

Was direct marketing an advertising activity?

In that case the people in charge of advertising should make the decision.

Was it ‘below the line’? In which case that company’s policy meant that a different department, usually concerned with purchasing everything down to stationery, would deal with it.

I will not go into detail, save to say that in the end different decisions were made in different countries for different reasons – most to do with these varying views of direct marketing.

This is obviously stupid.

And it is not likely to become any more intelligent if everybody involved has to understand and memorise a long, illustrated definition before they start work.

Moreover, the pool of understanding has been muddied further by the fact that many practitioners are not even agreed that direct marketing ought to be called direct marketing.

As a result, combined with the desire to give brand names to particular companies’ approaches to the business, all sorts of names have cropped up: terms such as ‘curriculum marketing’, ‘dialogue marketing’, ‘personal marketing’, ‘database marketing’ and – currently the most fashionable one – ‘customer relationship marketing’.

But the most common term remains direct marketing.

It is certainly the one I propose to stick to.

Nevertheless, these terms do reveal important facts about the nature of the business.

Certainly direct marketing revolves around the building and exploitation of a database – though there is more to it than that.

Equally, building a relationship is one of our objectives – but only one.

The approach is personal; and in the process of building  a relationship, you can guide your prospect through a curriculum whereby you learn more about them and they learn more about you.

But my simple definition of direct marketing is: ‘any advertising activity which creates and exploits a direct relationship between you and your prospect or customer as an individual’.

If you and I can agree that we ought to call direct marketing ‘direct marketing’, and you accept my simple definition, then you will immediately appreciate that a wide range of activities is encompassed.

I am sure you have been stopped by people standing on street corners with questionnaires bearing such inane queries as: ‘Are you able to save as much money as you’d like?’ If you are not careful, these will lead to a visit from an insurance salesman.

Clearly these people are engaged in direct marketing: they are making a direct contact and trying to initiate a relationship with you as an individual.

In the same way, somebody who offers you a leaflet inviting you to go into your local hamburger joint and win a prize; or the ad for the introduction agency offering love everlasting; the note in the shop window selling a used ghetto blaster; the ad suggesting you apply for shares in British Telecom; the leaflet coming through your door in praise of your local Conservative Party candidate – they’re all direct marketing.

In fact the most popular section in many papers – the classified section – is nothing but direct marketing.

And almost everything that happens on the internet involves direct marketing.

Perhaps it is worth stating here what I believe to be the differences between direct marketing and some of the other communications tools. (This is not made any easier by the fact that in the case of sales promotion, people are no more agreed about what they do than are direct marketers.)

How Does Direct Marketing Differ From Other Disciplines Like Advertising?

• Advertising usually speaks to people en masse, not as individuals. Although today the vast majority of ads do allow people to respond, especially by going to a website, advertising does not usually aim above all for an immediate response. It seeks  to influence customers so that they choose your brand when they reach the point of decision – the shop, for instance.


• Sales promotion is normally designed to get action at the point of sale. Often it uses the same methods as direct marketing. It can also generate lists. But rarely is there a continuing effort to build a lasting relationship with  respondents by exploiting the full possibilities of a database.


• Public relations employs media controlled by others to create a favourable climate of opinion. It too can create a database, for instance of replies to editorials, which are usually of very good quality.


• Packaging protects and draws attention to the product. It can also strengthen people’s belief in your product, reassure them, make offers, and collect names cheaply for the database.


• Experiential marketing, a fashionable new name for what used to be called events, certainly creates opportunities for building relationships, although few are doing this with it. Certainly practitioners in all disciplines are  increasingly aware of the potential of the direct relationship, but very few appreciate its full possibilities.

The above is an excerpt taken from Drayton Bird's book, 'Commonsense Direct & Digital Marketing'.

To discover how direct and digital marketing can -- and most probably will -- make a difference to your business, click here.

Best,
Rezbi
www.directmarketingcourse.com
www.hotbuttoncopywriting.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com

P.S. I just found a great article by Seth Godin where he also talks about the difference between direct marketing vs. mass market thinking. You can read that article here.

Eva Mendes S.ex Tape

Eva Mendes Sex Tape from Eva Mendes

Would you buy this?




Best,
Rezbi
www.directmarketingcourse.com
www.hotbuttoncopywriting.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com

Communicating - Or Just Making Pretty Shapes?

Do your prospects and customers find your messages hard to take in? It sounds crazy – but it happens most of the time.

Have you ever asked yourself why you communicate? Let’s face it: unless, like a politician, you suffer from a constant need to bore other people, you must have a purpose.

Maybe it’s to sell something: your product or service, or firm. Perhaps it’s to make something happen, or prevent it happening. Possibly it’s to clarify a misunderstanding or put over your point of view.

You may have many objectives. But whatever your purpose, I imagine you would agree it is, above all, essential that your audience understands what you are saying - quickly, easily and correctly. Otherwise, how are you to achieve your purpose?

Yet you may be surprised to know that many, perhaps most, printed commercial messages are ill understood by readers. The chief reason is that those who prepare them - writers and designers - know astoundingly little about what makes things easy to read.

For the most part, they rely on their own taste and judgement, or what is fashionable in “creative” circles. I put quotes round the word creative because, although the word implies originality, most slavishly follow whatever the current fad may be.

Slavish followers of fashion

Thus, if the fashion is for sans-serif type, or emphasising words regardless of their importance, or using certain words or phrases – like “strategic” or “key issues”, you will find many writers and art directors use them regardless of their suitability or how well they get your message across.

We can all have opinions about what we like, or what we think is tasteful, clever or well-arranged or visually exciting, but what really matters is, how well is your message conveyed? And oddly enough, a simple look at any daily paper reveals most of the principles.

The fundamental thing to recognise about words, type and layout is simple. They are tools to convey your message as clearly and quickly as possible. As the great typographical authority, Stanley Morison, noted: “Any disposition of type which, whatever the intention, comes between the reader and the meaning, is wrong”.

As you will see shortly, if you rely on taste, opinion or fashion the result is often disastrous; but happily, two men devoted many years to discovering how better use of language, type and layout makes for better communication.

Decades of research

One was Rudolph Flesch, an American, who studied what kinds and arrangements of words, sentences and paragraphs are most easily read. The other, an academic at the University of New South Wales called Colin Wheildon, conceived the idea of learning not whether people liked or disliked certain layouts or type styles, but how well they communicated.

He did this by taking some 200 Australian consumers, getting them to read certain passages laid-out in various ways, then asking them to describe what they had just read. He also asked them how easy they had found a particular piece to read. In other words he wanted to know how well different layout styles and typographic styles worked from a practical, not an aesthetic point of view.

The original research took over two years. As far as I know it is the most extensive and thorough of its kind. It has been extended and repeated over the 20-odd years since, and came out three years ago in a full-length book with the title 'Type and Layout'*. I recommend it if you want to make sure that whatever your message is, it gets through as well as possible.

In addition, since all messages aim to elicit a response – either, “yes, I understand” or “yes, I will do what you ask,” a lot of the results of direct response advertising can teach us lessons about what works and what doesn’t.

This piece distils some of the main things that have been learned from these three sources but the principal lesson is clear: people’s eyes and brains are lazy. If the eye has to adjust or make an effort, it will avoid doing so if possible. The same applies to the brain.

This should not surprise you: after all, how many business ideas – fast food, for example – succeed simply because people are lazy? First, let’s look at what has been learned about layout and typography.

A page of copy in serif type was comprehended well by 67% of readers. When the same copy was reset in sans serif, the figures nose-dived to 12%.

Why? Because the little “feet” on a line of serif type help keep people’s eyes on that line. So if you use sans serif type, make sure there’s plenty of leading – space – between the lines.

Perceived legibility of a series of headlines went down by over 20% when the setting was changed from capitals and lower case to capitals only. Imagine what happens to comprehension when someone sets a whole page in “caps” – which is quite the rage at the moment.

The eye recognises shapes, not individual letters, and a word set in caps has no shape, whereas the descenders and ascenders in caps and lower case give a word shape. What are descenders and ascenders? Well, in the word “shape”, h is an ascender and p is a descender.

Good comprehension slumped when type was set with ragged right setting (typically down from 67% to 38%) or, even more so with ragged left setting (67 down to 10 percent).

That’s because the eye has to adjust constantly. Often people set long passages “centred” – ragged on both sides. What do you suppose that does to comprehension?

For the same reason constant changes in typeface are not only ugly but confusing. This also applies to the needless changes in type size so fashionable amongst advertising agency art directors.

At least one person in ten has imperfect eyesight. So copy in very small type is usually unwise. And type set over tints or textures or colours so that it does not stand out clearly is fatal.

• Type set in narrow columns is easy to read - the eye doesn’t have to travel so far. Around 50 characters per line is about as long as it should go.

• Readers found headlines

laid out in a series

of “decks” or layers

like this were hard

to comprehend.

56% said they found headlines of more than four decks difficult.

Visual elements that point out of the layout - like people’s feet, or their sight lines - lead the readers out of the advertisement.

Illustrations that block off a column halfway down the page discourage the reader from travelling further.

Headlines marooned in the middle of the copy destroy the flow of that copy and halve good comprehension. So do headlines placed under the copy. The reader can’t be bothered to look up to the start of the copy.

Long, unbroken blocks of type are daunting. They should be broken up by crossheads, indents, and changes in type. Giving ‘shape’ to long letters also encourages readership.

• Huge headings take up expensive space you have paid for and only work if you have readers with arms 8 feet long.

When a lot of type is reversed out white on black, it kills response. In the case of one full-page magazine advertisement, response doubled when white on black was replaced with the normal black on white.

Captions are heavily read. If you run a picture without a caption, you lose the chance to communicate.

• Pictures of people’s faces gain enormous attention. Use them wherever you can.

Techniques that make for easier reading

If you buy The Wall Street Journal you will see how surprisingly easy the front page is to read. That is because it follows the rules laid down by Rudolph Flesch.

Best sellers and tabloid newspapers adhere to these techniques, as do direct response copywriters. They all have to make reading easy. Otherwise they go broke.

Sentences should be short. An average 16 words per sentence is ideal. The easiest sentence to read contains eight words. The average reader finds anything longer than 32 words hard to take in.

Paragraphs should be short, containing just one thought in each particularly the first paragraph.

• However, vary sentence and paragraph lengths to avoid dullness.

Words should be short and lively, not long and dull: eg, buy, not purchase; free. Not complimentary.

• Never use unnecessary words: eg, “for free” should be “free”; “miss out on” should be “miss”; “male personnel” should be “men”.

“You”, “yours” and “your” should appear 2-3 times more than “I”, “we”, “our”, “us” and “ours”. That’s because readers are interested in themselves – just as you are.

Use words and phrases at paragraph beginnings that encourage continued reading - like “And”, “Moreover”, “That is why” and “What’s more”. If you put questions at paragraph ends, this helps too. Why?

Because reader wants to know the answer – which is why you just read this sentence.

If you break sentences at the ends of pages and columns, this also encourages continued reading. Put ‘Please turn over’ or the like at the end of a letter page.

There are other points well worth knowing, but that’s all I have room for here. Thanks for reading through to the end; I hope you found it easy - and clear.

Best,
Drayton
www.directmarketingcourse.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com

Who Have You Read Lately?

A couple of days ago I sat through a course on writing by Drayton Bird, along with 40 or so other people.

The good thing was, although it was a live seminar, I didn't have to leave the comfort of my home: It was a webinar.

This was one of three webinars Drayton is holding on learning how to write to persuade.

And one thing he emphasized, along with many others, is the importance of reading. Not reading books on writing, or marketing, or any type of business book.

The books he told us to read are novels. And not just any novels, but novels written by people who know, or knew (some may or may not be alive now), how to write.

You see, these people write in such a way that you can't resist reading on. Their style of writing compels you to read from beginning to end.

One author I find unable to put down is Agatha Christie. I never used to read her books until Matt Furey recommended them in one of his emails.

Now I'm hooked.

The thing with Agatha Christie, and the ones on Drayton's list,  is that if you read them you can see why they're so good.

And, if you follow the way they write, it can only make your own writing much better.

And that includes copywriting.

If you want to know more about the writing course, go here http://www.draytonbird.com/proper. That's not an affiliate link.

Meanwhile, it just so happens I found a very interesting piece on the importance of reading. It was written almost a hundred years ago by one of the founders of the BBD&O advertising agency, Bruce Barton.

It's a short but compelling piece. I enjoyed reading it. I think you will, too.

Take it away, Bruce.

Your Body May Live In The Cellar; But It's Your Own Fault If Your Mind Lives There

THE other night my friend Ferrero and I spent a few years with Julius Caesar in ancient Rome.

We went with him on his campaigns in Gaul. Those were wonderful battles -- wonderful fighters.

From a hill-top we could watch the whole battle -- thousands of men driving at each other with their swords, hurling their javelins at short range. No smoke, no trenches; just primitive, hand-to-hand conflict.

We came back to Rome. The city was in a turmoil. Our great chariots thundered through the streets in triumph; our captives, our spoils, our banners made a magnificent procession. The crowds cheered wildly.

Another evening my friend Green and I had a great time together in ancient
Britain.

We went down to Runnymede with a group of English nobles. They were powerful men, each a petty king in his own section; but every one of them took his life in his hand on that expedition.

And there we gathered around King John, and forced him, against his will, to put his name to the Magna Carta, the Great Charter which is the foundation of
English liberties -- and our own.

I had a fine time with Napoleon a few nights before.

I met him when he landed in France, after the escape from Elba.

Up through the southern provinces he came, gathering a few troops there, winning over by the force of his eloquence the regiments sent to capture him.

We arrived in Paris. Hurriedly, but with supreme confidence that the Little
Corporal could never fail; we got together a makeshift army and set out to strike the winning blow at Waterloo.

That battle -- I shall never forget it.

Another day I went over to old Concord, and spent the whole afternoon with Emerson.

We talked about Representative Men. Well, well, you say, what foolishness is this? What do you mean by saying you lived with Caesar and Napoleon and Emerson -- all centuries apart, all long since dead?

If you do not know what I mean, then I pity you.

Have you never come home tired from your office, and with a book transported your foolish little mind clear out of the present day?

Have you never learned the joy of surrendering yourself to the companionship of the great men of the past?

Have you never sat in the little London Club and heard Sam Johnson thunder his philosophy of life?

Have you never sailed up and down the American coast with Captain John Smith, dodging the Indians and opening up a new continent?

Are you one of the wretched, poverty stricken souls who have never learned to escape from yourself through the blessed magic of good books?

Have you contented yourself all your life with the companionship of good pinochle-players, when you might have been a familiar friend of Socrates and
Milton and Napoleon and Cromwell and Washington and Columbus and Shakespeare and Lincoln and Rousseau?

If so, cut out this paragraph from a great man and paste it in your hat:

I would rather be a  beggary and dwell in a garret, than a king who did not love books.

There are some marvellous experiences coming to you.

You can in the evenings to come jar yourself out of the petty rut where circumstance has placed you, and become a familiar of the immortals.

You may learn to face the world with a new confidence, a new poise, a new self respect, because you have made yourself a citizen of the ages.

Do some real reading.

Do it for the joy it will give you: Do it for the good it will do you.

"Show me a family of readers,” said Napoleon, “and I will show you the people who rule the world."

Best,
Rezbi
www.directmarketingcourse.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com

Failure - A Friendly Kick Up The Backside

I'm a lazy sod given half a chance, so I thought I'd let an old friend do a bit of work.

Christian Digby-Firth was one of my creative directors years ago at O & M and has a very neat turn of phrase.

Good writing is always a good thing to note if you want good people, since as Dr. Johnson observed, "Language is the dress of thought."

Here's something Christian sent me just now.

"What is it about airport ads? They're breeding grounds for some of the most fatuous copy lines in the biz. "We know what it takes to be a Tiger", "In business people are good together", "Hello", etc. etc and all the others too crushingly dull to recall. Which is of course your point.

International committee work, I suppose.

"Make the most of now" is Vodafone's anxious strategic imperative writ large: i.e. "Please use your mobile phone to do all sorts of things that are pointless to you but profitable to us, and do them now because we don't make anything on your boring old voice calls".

Now, I have to confess that though I agree with almost everything in that hilarious little note, I don't agree with that.

I think the Tiger campaign is very cleverly aimed at executives with very small p**cks and even smaller minds who want to feel like they're big bold business marauders - and who are gullible enough to believe Accenture will help them do it without having to think, in exchange for absurdly large sums of money.

But there is an important point I want to make (besides one I made in an earlier piece, which is that emotion beats logic, even in business).

It's: Playing on people's inadequacies is a very smart thing to do.

Take a look at any successful self-help ad, and you'll see what they do.

I mentioned Max Sackheim a week or so ago - the man who wrote "My First 50 years in Advertising".

He wrote an ad entitled, "Do you make these mistakes in English?" aimed to sell English courses to immigrants who felt unsure about their English. It ran successfully for 40 years.

Here it is:



Lillian Eichler wrote an ad with the heading, "Again she orders - A Chicken Salad, Please." - to sell a book of etiquette to people who felt socially inadequate.

It took three writers to produce an ad headed, "Here's an extra $50, Grace - I'm making real money now" - aimed to sell correspondence courses. This is one of my favourite headlines ever..

Now, I hope you're not going to give me that bleeding heart stuff about playing on people's fears. If you do I will tell you one thing I know for sure, in fact I bet on it once..

Recently I was speaking at Manchester University, and the celebrity speaker was a famous chef. I was discussing what motivates successful people with a lady at my table..

I said, "It's fear of failure - and I bet this man is no exception."

The man's speech began almost word for word with what I'd said. He revealed how he feared not living up to his father's expectations..

People who achieve do so almost always because they fear to fail..

And people who fail usually do so because they're cocksure -not worried about failing, and so don't try hard enough.

Best,
Drayton
www.directmarketingcourse.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com

"The Greatest DM Creative Of This Generation"

This is Steve Harrison...

"The greatest DM creative of this generation."

A bold claim, you might say, but that's not me saying it. It was a claim made by the UK’s leading advertising journal, Campaign magazine.



Steve was one of the presenters at the direct marketing course ran by Drayton Bird's European Academy of Direct and Interactive Marketing, or EADIM for short.

Let me tell you, Steve alone was worth the fee for the course.

And that's saying something when you consider some of the industry's biggest hitters were also there presenting.

It's happening again starting this October. I'll give you more details soon.

Best,
Rezbi
www.eadim.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com

How Often Should You Talk Yo Your Customers?

This video may sound a bit like it was recorded in a municipal swimming baths (actually it was my partner Al'S quaint West Country residence) but once you've got over that, you may find it useful.



That's because it deals with something I must have been asked a thousand times: how often should I mail/email my clients?

This reminds me of another hoary old favourite: how long should the copy be?

And both remind me of the philosopher Bertrand Russell's remark that "What men seek is not knowledge, but certainty."

Some people think they should be talking more often, lest their customers think they are being ignored; others think they should talk less for fear of boring them.

The truth is, as so often, that it depends on a myriad things. In this 2 minute 6 second clip I get pretty excited about the subject - but don't let that put you off.

By the way, I have just finished putting together the examples for the first How to Write Proper webinar.

Best,
Drayton
www.eadim.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com

Here's Where I Stole Lots Of "My" Ideas From ... Now It's Your Turn

If you read these serpentine ramblings you know I greatly admire the Venerable Denny Hatch.

Denny, with almost demented dedication, has over the last 26 years created the world's largest organised direct mail library - over 200,000 samples.

But what is more important, he knows what worked - and what didn't, and can tell you why, because he knows more than anyone about the subject.

18 years ago I rang his wife, Peggy (who is as able as he is!) to ask how many mailings he read a month.

"Between one and two thousand," she replied. "Mind you, he doesn't read all of them all through."

"I should bloody well hope not," I thought. "The poor man would end up in a loony bin if he did."

Anyhow, since that time, Denny's mammoth compendium of the best mailings ever - Million $$$ Mailings, created with Axel Andersson - has been my secret weapon.

I use it to cheat.

I thumb through it for inspiration - and for ideas to steal, adapt and use in seminars. It contains 71 of the most successful mailings ever written. Only last month I wrote something that pulled like an express train based on one line I spotted and “improved”.

I refer to it more than Caples, more than Hopkins, more than Ogilvy.

The only problem is, it is a WHACKING GREAT TOME, 477 pages long - I yearn to beat up recalcitrant clients with it. I can't find the ideas I want quickly. And it is 18 years old, so some important new stuff is not in it.

Now, praise the Lord, Denny has come up with something that's bang up-to-date, and a lot shorter. So I can find tested ideas to steal in minutes.

It’s a report called The Secrets of Emotional Hot-ButtonCopywriting. You can get it at http://hotbuttoncopywriting.com/.

But to call it a report does it too little justice. It is atreasure trove. I flipped it open just now and immediately saw an extraordinary opening line "I'm sitting in my wheelchair today, mad as hell" ... imagine what that could do for your e-mail opening rates!

(Do not think for a second that what applies in direct mail does not apply online. It is pretty much all relevant - and the examples you see are from the best of the best in a business that has been around for centuries, not decades).

As the title says, the report is based on the turbulent, gnawing human emotions - the hot buttons - that make your customers buy. And it features the best mailings of the last 20 years. Only Denny could have put it together, because only Denny has this astonishing archive of material.

And Denny does something so many fail to do: he tells you WHY things work. You will never get this from some of the hyped-up piffle that sails into your inbox every day.

A friend just forwarded me (as a joke) one of those emails that say “all you need is this set of DVDs and booklets and your copy will “write itself” automatically.

What drivel!

Here, for $89, you can get what you really need – theCopy Thieves’ Almanac. I may use one of the mailings in a speech I make in a week's time. I will certainly adapt another for some work I have to do for an investment client.

Here again is where to order: http://hotbuttoncopywriting.com/.

Why not make it the next thing you do? Just one idea could double the response from your next effort. I have seen it happen. I know.

Best,
Drayton
http://directmarketingcourse.com/
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com

How Powerful Are Surveys For Increasing Response?

When I last ran a one day seminar in London, I used a simple weapon to get attendees. It was not direct mail. Not advertising. Not PR. Not a clever promotion.

It was an e-mailed survey, it got 16% response, and I made a few thousand quid.

That was partly because of the list and partly because of the person who signed it (not me). So this video is all about why surveys are such a deceptively powerful weapon. See what you think.



Would you like an example of how I use surveys?

I have a client who is setting up a business overseas. I suggested his launch could be based on a survey. So now he is writing some copy which I will edit/revise/trample all over.

We will get the survey results published in a newspaper (they're always gagging for stuff to run). That will establish his name and give him credibility among his prospects. And that will lead to a series of other things I won't bore you with.

The best survey format is anonymous, so people are happier to respond. I hope that is true of you, because I have stuck a survey in here – and I'd really appreciate your reply.

Two weeks ago so many of you said you'd like a writing webinar that I wondered what else would interest you.

So in the survey I’ve listed some - but not all - the topics I have bored the opants off people about in sundry places from Dubai to Sydney. Let me know which interest you and I will try to set something up. It takes no time at all to complete.

Oh, and I've also asked about something entirely different that I am running. It has limited numbers, so I want to know what the likely take up is.

I will tell you what results the survey comes up with, so you will know what interests other people

Best,
Drayton
www.eadim.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com


P. S. The writing webinars will will start in about a week. The delay is because we have spent a ludicrous amount of time looking at the various options. None is perfect, but I think we have arrived at the best.

Also how we take your money is a pain to arrange. Don’t worry. I have a deal for you!

Actually I have two deals for you - but that's for another day.

But first, please fill in the survey, which takes about 30 seconds. Only you can tell me what you want. I do appreciate it!

The best survey format is anonymous, so people are happier to respond. I hope that is true of you, because I have stuck a survey in here – and I'd really appreciate your reply.

Two weeks ago so many of you said you'd like a writing webinar that I wondered what else would interest you.

So in the survey I’ve listed some - but not all - the topics I have bored the opants off people about in sundry places from Dubai to Sydney. Let me know which interest you and I will try to set something up. It takes no time at all to complete.

Oh, and I've also asked about something entirely different that I am running. It has limited numbers, so I want to know what the likely take up is.

I will tell you what results the survey comes up with, so you will know what interests other people

P. S. The writing webinars will will start in about a week. The delay is because we have spent a ludicrous amount of time looking at the various options. None is perfect, but I think we have arrived at the best.

Also how we take your money is a pain to arrange. Don’t worry. I have a deal for you!

Actually I have

two deals for you - but that's for another day.

But first, please fill in the survey, which takes about 30 seconds. Only you can tell me what you want. I do appreciate it!

Best,
Drayton
www.eadim.com
www.draytonbirdcommonsense.com

He who knows how to manage the media often wins the game. The BP crisis is on everyone’s mind. And before that, Toyota got into a mess. What should you know about public relations?

When clients come to me I often suggest that good PR may be even more important than anything I can do. And I strongly believe that relying on one marketing weapon alone is very short sighted.

Modern public relations – PR - began about a hundred years ago with the world’s richest man, John D. Rockefeller. Rockefeller had a problem.

He had built up Standard Oil very ruthlessly, treating his workers appallingly - though probably no worse than most businessmen at the time. He was so hideously unpopular he could barely go outside without embarrassment. He asked a newsman called Ivy Lee for advice.

I do not know what Lee charged Mr. Rockefeller, but his solution brilliantly demonstrated how to create and manage news. He told Rockefeller to stop hiding away, go out regularly, and always carry with him a supply of 5 cent coins to give to small children.

Lee, no doubt, ensured these generous acts were reported. In no time the ogre Rockefeller was replaced in the public’s mind by the kindly old fellow who loved children.

Was this clever idea an influence for good or bad? It has certainly been much copied. All politicians know it’s a good idea to be photographed with babies, but among the century’s leading experts have been Joseph Stalin, Adolph Hitler and Mao Tse Tung.

Advice from a top expert

When young, I worked in public relations for long enough to know I am no good at it. However a friend, Quentin Bell, was long one of Britain’s leading PR men. He gave me a list of points for good PR, which I have put at the end.

The difference between advertising and public relations is that you pay for advertising space or time; in public relations you only pay for the advice you get. The media print or broadcast what they want about you.

Advertising was once called “the truth well told”. The same applies to good PR. The trouble is, as we all know, the truth can be seen in many ways. If your version of the truth prevails, it is a powerful ally; if not, it can be a disaster. Which it is depends on you.

Public relations are vital when there are problems. The launch of the Toyota Lexus in America was nearly a disaster, because thousands of the first cars delivered had faults. A few years later the Mercedes A-Class was reported to be unreliable on sharp corners. On another occasion a madman poisoned some of the packs of the leading US analgesic, Tylenol.

All three firms acted promptly and managed the news. Toyota recalled every car they had sold and gave owners free replacements while the problem was fixed. Mercedes immediately installed in their A class the same braking system fitted in their most expensive cars and wrote to all prospective and existing buyers explaining the facts. Tylenol replaced every bottle of Tylenol in every store in America.

So none of these firms denied the problem: they admitted there was one and solved it. They told the truth. Moral: don’t lie, don’t hide. Act and be open. I do not think that Toyota and BP, more recently, have managed their PR very well. So what should you do?

Start by asking questions

Good PR – like all good marketing - starts with the truth. First, ask three questions. Who are we? Where are we? Where do we want be or go? If you haven’t asked them, you now know your first – maybe your most important – task.

You must know what you are – not what you hope you are. This calls for research, both inside and outside your organisation. Only then you can work to become what you want to be.

Unlike advertising, PR doesn’t directly promote a product, service or brand. It deals with issues raised by, and surrounding them. They benefit indirectly.

PR is about “our way of doing things” – corporate culture. It takes your special (though not necessarily unique) attitudes and viewpoints and turns them to commercial advantage.

Internal PR comes before external PR. It conveys these messages so well that everyone you work with understands and eventually “owns” them. They become company ambassadors. You know you’ve succeeded when they talk of colleagues as “we” instead of “them”.

Your message must embrace all those groups your success depends on. Not just your people, but suppliers and distributors, communities, investors, regulators, and the media.

One of my partners once told me the best advice his father ever gave him. It was, “If you’re talking, you can’t be listening. And if you’re not listening, you can’t be learning”. PR only succeeds if it is a dialogue – not a one way “top down” monologue. Listening is vital if you wish to respond.

PR is not about slogans and slick phrases. It’s about style plus substance: 90% is about improving the reality, only 10% about promoting it. Image and reality must match. You cannot pretend to be what you’re not – for long.

Don’t rely entirely on the PR agency or marketing department. Your message must course through the veins of the company – inspired by those at the top. Your top PR person is the CEO – the public ambassador. PR should be an important part of his or her job.

Good PR is consistent and continual: inspiration, consistency and dogged determination differentiate the winners from the losers.

Top ten tips for dealing with the media

What if you have to face the media? It can be frightening – unless you’re prepared. Here is Quentin’s advice:

• Know your message: identify your three key points; stick to them; don’t be afraid of repeating them; don’t get sidetracked.

• Be the victor not the victim. You know more about your subject than they do; an interview is an opportunity, not a threat; you can turn their negative into your positive, or at least paint a balanced picture; be businesslike – it’s better to be respected than liked.

• Prepare and rehearse: think of all likely difficult questions for a requested interview – and know your answers.

• Send out all your bad news at once, not bit by bit. Release it with bigger news of the day as a smokescreen. If it’s good news, check the next day’s media agenda for a slow news day.

• Know what the media want: ask them for their angle – they’ll willingly tell you; don’t “answer” but “respond”; use the question as a chance to say what you want to say.

• Admit your mistakes: others will forgive you. Don’t cover up; but always “regret” rather than being “sorry” - that implies guilt. Never speak “off the record”. Assume all you say will be broadcast or published.

• Be humble: be confident but not arrogant; stay calm and “smile” (if only inwardly, because it shows on TV). Remember, an aggressive interviewer gains you public sympathy; don’t lie (you’ll be found out and make matters worse). If you don’t know the answer, say so.

• Speak in headlines: talk about benefits, not features. Think in pictures, not words; keep it simple; listen to questions carefully; don’t fill silences – it puts the onus upon the interviewer.

• Don’t refuse to take difficult phone calls. But give yourself thinking time (“I’ll phone you back in ten minutes”); never say “no comment” - it implies guilt; it provides a vacuum to allow the media to invent their own “truth”.

• Never pretend to be what you’re not, personally or corporately. If the public perception is false, make the truth clear; get the endorsement of your top PR person – the CEO.

Best,
Drayton
www.eadim.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com

How To Charm Your Prospects

Last week I sat beside Drayton and watched him go through copy written by one of his clients. Keep in mind this piece of copy wasn't bad.

Drayton just sat there, in front of his screen, and edited it with such ease it was amazing.

By the time he finished, it was a masterpiece.

Best,
Rezbi
www.eadim.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com