And now Denny’s come out with a new book. I won’t bore you with what I think of it (judging by the excerpts, it’s pretty fantastic).
Here, check out a little of what’s inside the book:
(Can’t wait? Visit Denny ‘s site here www.dennyhatch.com)
1. Advertising
“Advertising is, actually, a simple phenomenon in terms of economics. It is merely a substitute for a personal sales force — an extension, if you will, of the merchant who cries aloud his wares.” —Rosser Reeves
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“Advertising is salesmanship in print.” —John E. Kennedy
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Here’s the secret of successful advertising: interrupting what’s going on in the front of a prospect’s brain with headline, graphics, copy and action that seize upon a lurking fear or desire and exploiting it.
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“It is easier to write passably effective sonnets than one effective advertisement.” —Aldous Huxley
“Every man is constantly holding a mental conversation with himself, and the burden of that conversation is himself — his interests, his loved ones his business, his advancement.” —Robert Collier
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These self- conversations are frequently interrupted: a baby crying, a kitchen timer going off, a dog barking, someone at the front door, a fire engine going by, a piece of direct mail or catalog, a TV infomercial or a
telemarketing call.
If the marketing effort is dull … if it does not interrupt and keep on interrupting… the interruption is interrupted … and we resume the conversation with ourselves. The marketer has lost money. If you can capture the prospect’s attention, it is imperative to hold it. Once the proposition is laid aside, chances are very high no action will be taken.
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“Advertising is the greatest art form of the 20th century.” —Marshall McLuhan
If your mailing piece or ad sends responders to your website, create a special URL that takes them to a page directly relating to the message that they have just seen. Many marketers simply list the generic home page, whereupon responders are consigned to roaming around Landing Page Limbo, and you have lost the order, donation or inquiry.
When was the last time you took a critical look at your home page/ landing page? Does that dog hunt? Or have so many people screwed around with it that it has become Landing Page Limbo?
Do your email promotions have a viral marketing option (e.g., “Please forward to a friend or colleague who may be interested in this opportunity.”)?
Do you have an action device where it’s obvious how to reply? Is it easy to reach a real person at your shop — either by email or phone? If not, why not?
38. Employee, Being One
“Become indispensable — take on jobs other people don’t want to do.” —Ivanka Trump
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“According to a 2009 Proofpoint study of 220 leaders at American companies with over 1,000 employees, 38 percent employ staff to read or otherwise analyze the content of outgoing email, compared to 29 percent last year.
Why the big increase in surveillance? 34 percent said their businesses had been affected by the exposure of sensitive or embarrassing information, up from 23 percent in 2008.” —The Daily Stat, Harvard Business Publishing
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Emails are forever. Even though you have deleted or trashed an email, it lives — somewhere in your own computer and/or in the company server and/or out in the Internet.
“‘Companies that do use email to notify employees that they’ve been laid off or fired “do it because it’s easy,’ said Frank Kenna, president and CEO of Marlin. ‘It’s not the right way to handle it,’ he said, especially for situations where a worker is being fired.” —Marianne Kolbasuk McGee
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Getting fired is never easy, even if you see it coming. But when a dismissal borders on insulting, it becomes the stuff of legends. —Sarah E. Needleman
46. Humor in Advertising
“Is your copy funny or cute? (Avoid humor at all costs.)” —Milt Pierce
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“For the Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine’s newsletter, Your Dog, I wrote a letter from the dean of the veterinary school emphasizing the credentials and expertise of their canine authorities. Then I added a second lift note — from a dog! — explaining why dogs hate the newsletter. (It makes their owners too knowledgeable, and teaches owners how to break dogs’ bad habits!)
Humor is usually risky, but in this case, proved highly effective. It added significantly to the strength of this control.” —Barbara Harrison
Note: Barbara Harrison used humor in a peripheral element — the lift note. It wasn’t the main piece of the effort.
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But cleverness and humor, traditionally, have no place in direct marketing. If the reader says, “My, isn’t this clever” or “Oh, how funny!” the thread of the argument is lost and so is the sale.
“Don’t use humor.” —Craig Huey
“Don’t be cute. Your advertisement can entertain a million readers — and not sell one of them.” —Andrew J. Byrne
“Your job is to sell, not entertain.” —Jack Maxson
• Be careful about cutting people, which are the most important assets. They can help you through tough times; they know your history. If you lose people now, when things pick up, you’ll have to hire new people and train them, which will impact productivity.
• Survival comes first.
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“People use the word ‘guru,’ because the word ‘charlatan’ is so hard to spell.” —Peter Drucker
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“Be a people person. Answer your own phone. Wander around the ballpark. Be at the gate to say good night to people.” —Bill Veeck
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“You’ll never have to apologize for giving people some fun.” —Bill Veeck, who sent 3-foot-7 stunt man Eddie Gaedel to pinch hit for the Cleveland Browns in 1951
62. Marketing
“Always underpromise and overdeliver.” —Marilyn Black
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“Marketing is only as good as the supporting infrastructure.”
—Dick Benson
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Creating a product or service is easy. It’s the marketing that’s difficult, time-consuming and expensive.
Put another way: It’s easy to make a football. Getting it into the end zone is tough.
With any new business — or existing business — start with the customer and work backwards from there.
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For more about Denny Hatch visit his site
here www.dennyhatch.com
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73. Murphy’s Law
According to numerous websites, Edwards Air Force Base was the site of the birth of Murphy’s Law. (“If anything can go wrong, it will.”)
In 1949, Capt. Edward A. Murphy was a project engineer who discovered a transducer wrongly wired. He said of the technician who was responsible for the goof, “If there is any way to do it wrong, he’ll find it.”
Murphy’s comment was noted, and he became world famous. Other laws:
- Nothing is as easy as it looks.
- Everything takes longer than you think.
- Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
- If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong.
- Corollary: If there is a worse time for something to go wrong, it will happen then.
- If anything simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway.
- If you perceive that there are four possible ways in which a procedure can go wrong, and circumvent these, then a fifth way, unprepared for, will promptly develop.
- Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse.
- If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.
- Nature always sides with the hidden flaw.
- Mother Nature is a bitch.
- It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.
- Whenever you set out to do something, something else must be done first.
- Every solution breeds new problems.
“Corollary to Murphy’s Law: Everything takes twice as long as you think it will take — and then double that. Everything costs twice as much as you think it will cost — and then double that.” —Irvin Borowsky
Before taking such action, think through every possible scenario and potential collateral damage.
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“Very often the art of public relations is the art of private relations.” —Albert Lasker
85. Public Speaking
“PowerPoint makes us stupid.” —Gen. James N. Mattis
“Power corrupts. PowerPoint corrupts absolutely.” —Edward Tufte
Many (inept) speakers use PowerPoint badly. They fill the screen with small type that can be read only by people sitting in the front row, and they proceed to read their speech off the screen.
A read speech is a dead speech.
If you do use PowerPoint, limit the amount of text on the screen, and make it large enough for those in the last row to read.
Obey the 10-20-30 Rule of PowerPoint: no more than 10 slides, no more than 20 minutes and no type smaller than 30 point.
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People come to a presentation to listen and take notes, not to read along with the speaker.
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President Obama uses the invisible glass Teleprompter system on the right and left side of the podium, so eye contact with the audience can be maintained while the speech is being read. I am not sure if he has a printed speech on the podium as a back-up, but most likely he does.
President George W. Bush and members of his administration were “Of my two ‘handicaps’ being female put more obstacles in my path than being black.” —Shirley Chisholm
“Remember no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” —Eleanor Roosevelt
“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.” —Rosa Parks
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“I do the very best I can to look upon life with optimism and hope and looking forward to a better day, but I don’t think there is anything such as complete happiness. It pains me that there is still a lot of Klan activity and racism. I think when you say you’re happy, you have everything that you need and everything that you want, and nothing more to wish for. I haven’t reached that stage yet.” —Rosa Parks
99. Writing
Below are Ted Nicholas’ four rules I follow when I start to prepare copy.
1. Clear your mind. For some persons, this might mean lying down for a few minutes before going to work. For others, it could mean jumping in the pool or jogging around a track. Frolic, spend time with someone you love or go dancing. Do whatever comes naturally to you in order to have a clear mind for creative purposes.
2. Never write when you’re tired. You’re not going to try to drive or operate machinery when you’re tired.
3. Never write when you’re busy. If there are other demands pressing on you, tend to them first. I don’t think anyone can write well when they are watching the clock. Don’t try to write if you have appointments later in the day or errands to run.
4. Don’t write in bits and pieces. Once you’ve turned on your creative energy, you need to keep it flowing. I don’t stop until I complete a draft. I try not to stop even for meals.
Want to know more?
Go here and check it out.
That’s not an affiliate link. Denny books are excellent and I just wanted to give him the publicity he deserves.
Go get it. You’ll like it.
Best,
Rezbi
www.directmarketingcourse.com
www.hotbuttoncopywriting.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com
