Career-Changing Takeaways… And Murphy’s Law

Have you heard of Denny Hatch? He wrote ‘Million Dollar Mailing$’.

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
………………
“Advertising is salesmanship in print.” —John E. Kennedy
………………
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.
………………
“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
………………
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.
………………
“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
………………
“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
………………
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
………………
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
………………
“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.
………………
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.
………………
“People use the word ‘guru,’ because the word ‘charlatan’ is so hard to spell.” —Peter Drucker
………………
“Be a people person. Answer your own phone. Wander around the ballpark. Be at the gate to say good night to people.” —Bill Veeck
………………
“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
………………
“Marketing is only as good as the supporting infrastructure.”
—Dick Benson
………………
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.
————————————————————————————–
For more about Denny Hatch visit his site
here www.dennyhatch.com
————————————————————————————–

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.
………………
“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.
………………
People come to a presentation to listen and take notes, not to read along with the speaker.
………………
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
………………
“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

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

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

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

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

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

Drayton Bird: Understanding People

Drayton Bird on why understanding people is good for good marketing.

Space Advertising Secrets

Perhaps the best-known secret of the world's most successful Internet marketers is this.

Applying the hard-won lessons learned in building successful marketing campaigns offline to the online marketing arena is the reason for the really big successes.

While, of course, everything offline does not apply exactly to online marketing, the major principles do.

As attractive as marketing on the Internet can be, I submit it's a big mistake to limit yourself to any advertising medium, online or offline. Ideally, you use a combination of both.

Today I'm going to discuss offline space advertising.

It's a great and profitable skill to actually sell products and services right off the page in magazines and newspapers.

In fact, you can make a huge fortune quickly once you learn the secrets of marketing utilizing space advertising.

But perhaps because there are several critically important things which very few people in the world know, almost all marketers who try space ads fail miserably.

Failed space advertisers tend to quit in disgust. And considerably poorer. And not necessarily wiser. Even worse, they simply don't know what they did wrong.

Those who have followed my career know that for 21 years I was perhaps the most successful user of space advertising in the U.S. to sell products directly off the page.

Frankly, most people think my unprecedented space ad success is due completely to my copywriting skills. And while, of course, powerful copy plays a big part, there's  much more to the picture.

Here are some basic tips regarding what I learned the hard way in over 20 years.

** The look of the ad **

The way most space ads are laid out, whether created by direct marketers or ad agencies, practically scream, "I'm an ad." This is a huge mistake.

Consumers don't like to read advertising as such. They do seek and enjoy information. Your ad should scream "Here is some valuable information." That's why all my ads have an editorial look.

Copy should be dense. Column length of body copy should be no wider than a good newspaper or magazine. A full-page ad should have 3 columns.

Photos when used should be mostly of people, not products. Products in an ad will immediately flag out that you may--God forbid--be selling something. This tends to turn  people off. People should be looking directly at the camera. Photos should always, always be captioned.

Tip: Once again, for the umpteenth time, a great headline is critical to the success of the ad. Without a compelling headline, your ad doesn't stand a chance of succeeding.

** The position of the ad **

In a magazine, a space ad should always be on a right-hand page. And it should be up front in the magazine, ideally on the first five right-hand pages. When a space ad is, for  example, on page 177, your results will be extremely light. Reason? Most people are so busy they do not get a chance to read the entire magazine.

Ads on left-hand pages generally produce less than half the sales of a right-hand page. You must insist on a right-hand page. Or pull the ad.

In a newspaper, urgently request your ad also be above the fold.

** The media selection **

A great ad in the wrong media will bomb. You must choose magazines and newsletters carefully. In the U.S., Standard Rate and Data Service (SRDS) can be subscribed to or found in a good library. Every magazine and newspaper published and worth considering is listed. A good basic approach is to simply call publications in which you may be  interested and request a media kit.

The media kit will contain all kinds of useful demographic information and a sample of the magazine.

Tip: Avoid publications which have no direct response or mail order ads. This indicates the readers are not accustomed to buying off the page.

** Cost of media **

Advertising rates are almost always negotiable. At my seminars I teach a negotiating technique which usually reduces advertising costs by 50% to 80%.

** Space ad copy **

The copy style, beginning with the headline, must be even more powerful and "tighter" than a sales letter, where comparatively you get away with murder. You must  mercilessly cut any unnecessary words or sloppy phrasing.

** Legal factors **

While the following is not legal advice (I am not an attorney), I will give you a few practical ideas.

Once you seriously begin advertising in space, your activities are much more visible to everyone. This includes, of course, your competition. And government agencies.

Tip: More people will try to cash in on your success, "rip off" your successful ads. My ads have been ripped off by many marketers (the names of some of them would shock you).

A good protective step which costs nothing is to add to each ad you produce the copyright symbol © followed by the words Copyright, followed by the year and your  company name. This helps to provide you common law copyright protection. Often a cease and disease letter from you or your attorney will prevent further violations of  your copyright.

As to government agencies, if your ad is on the edge or actually breaking some law, you will undoubtedly hear about it sooner than otherwise.

Adding space advertising done correctly to your marketing program can easily put millions of additional sales in your bank account.

But, you must get the details right. As with all marketing, success is in the margin.

Your correspondent,
Ted Nicholas

—————

“This article appears courtesy of THE SUCCESS MARGIN, the Internet’s most valuable success and marketing e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit  http://www.tednicholas.com/

A Very Useful Checklist For Creatives

Do you have to judge creative work ?

Bloody hard, isn't it?

So maybe you're not that amazed at some of the weird stuff that emerges.

Do you recall an old TV campaign for Barclays? It must have cost millions, and featured Samuel L. Jackson walking though the country accompanied by a most appealing pig.

Being a bit thick, I didn't see what this had to do with banking.

So I asked an audience of 1,500 salespeople if they thought it would persuade a single person to switch to Barclays. One person did. Most of the rest thought it would do nothing - or actually lose customers.

Then I asked a class of marketing students what they thought. Not one could even understand it - and even if they had, the most lucrative customers for any bank are middle-aged or older.

To be honest, I wonder if those who created or approved the ad had any idea what makes advertising persuade and sell. I imagine they just fancied the idea of meeting and working with Mr. Jackson. Or maybe they just liked pigs.

Nothing changes. Now Barclays runs guff like "the hole in the wall" and deeply embarrassing stuff about their staff outside their banks. Trying to be matey and friendly, I imagine.

What do you want from your bank? I know one Barclays customer very well. She just wishes they could be vaguely efficient from time to time. No signs of that, though.

Enough! Here is today's helpful idea.

For more years than I care to contemplate I have tried to determine what makes messages sell. Not based on my opinion, but on all the available research and testing.

So here's a checklist based on what I learned you must look for if you want to sell.

A quick creative checklist

1. The opening must quickly offer or clearly imply a clear, strong benefit.

2. Is everything instantly clear. If it's funny, clever or obscure - beware.

3. Unless you give every sensible reason to buy, answer obvious questions, overcome all reasonable objections, you'll lose sales.

4. Is what you sell fully, clearly described?

5. Is the tone right? Don't be funny about serious things (eg, charity, business or money)

6. Show it to someone uninvolved, preferably a likely prospect. Ask if they understand it - and if they would buy

7. Do you prove your claim is true? Testimonials? Independent figures?

8. Do you ask firmly enough for a reply, tell people precisely what to do? Repeat your arguments at that point.

9. Is the coupon, order form or request to reply big enough, clear, simple and easy to use?

10. Read the copy aloud. Does it sound like someone talking? Good!


You may find using this check-list a bit of bore. But a lot less boring than stuff that flops.

Because if you want to sell, you'll find that some, perhaps many of your messages miss one or more of the points above. And if you look out for them I promise you will improve your results - perhaps so much it will surprise you.

By the way, the principles are similar, but not identical, in advertising not designed to sell immediately, which usually (but not always) has less copy. And usually (but not always) would be a damn sight better if it did try to sell immediately.

Best,
Drayton

P.S.  This is number 15 of Drayton Bird’s 101 free helpful marketing ideas.  You can sign up on the link below for the rest.

—————————————–

Website: www.draytonbirdcommonsense.com / www.eadim.com

Use Emotional Appeal

Do you think the British are morphing in some weird way?

We were always known as a pretty dull, phlegmatic bunch, compared to the excitable French, the fiery Spanish and the sexy Italians.

Well, something strange seems to be happening in business.

Across the road from our offices a building firm says it's passionate about whatever it does. Pret-a-Manger is passionate about food. The North East is full of passionate people - and passionate country, too, so their posters claim. And Churchill are passionate about insurance.

Do these people have no sex lives, I sometimes wonder. (Though it certainly proves that many agencies are pretty passionate about copying each other.)

More to the point, all this passion reminds me of a big mistake many who sell to businesses make. That is to assume that business decisions are made on rational grounds and emotion doesn't come into it.

This is nonsense - and to prove it I often ask audiences whether they can think of anyone they work with that they hate. It never fails to raise a laugh of recognition.

Only human - with feelings

Don't you agree that the way we love to label things often does more to confuse than help?

We talk of above the line and below, of b2c and b2b. "Consumers" and "Business people". Is that how our customers see themselves? Do they have lines running through their brains?

They are all human beings. And we know perfectly well what things motivate people when we sell make-up, a car or even a hair-remover. People want to be looked at, admired - and definitely not shunned.

In business they want what? To be looked up to, admired - and definitely not shunned. To be successful, quoted as examples for other people to emulate - not seen as losers - in life or business.

Pretty similar, right?

So we repeatedly find when selling to business that if something isn't doing well, a dash of passion makes all the difference.

• For an express delivery firm we suggested delivery managers could go from zero - never noticed till something went wrong - to hero by relying on them.


• For a credit collection firm we focused on the stress credit managers experience when trying to reconcile the conflicting demands of the finance and sales directors.


• For a telephony service we wrote about the rage touch-tone services inspire in most people and contrasted it with their solution.

The truth is that you don't grow a second head on your way to the office; and you may spend more waking hours there than anywhere else. It's not necessarily less interesting or emotional a life than the one you spend at home. It is often more so.

People lie, cheat and finagle their way to whatever business goal they may have. And they kill for money - which is what most business revolves around.

Man is not a rational animal at work any more than anywhere else. He (or she) makes decisions on emotional grounds then tries to find logical arguments to explain them away.

So, if you want better results when selling to business, look in your heart - then use your head to find a way of explaining why the emotional argument makes sense.

A few people have asked for comments on various things. Thanks. Keep 'em coming.

Best,
Drayton

P.S.  This is number 9 of Drayton Bird’s 101 free helpful marketing ideas.  You can sign up on the link below for the rest.

—————————————–

Website: www.draytonbirdcommonsense.com / www.eadim.com

Click here to get 101 free helpful marketing ideas. Marketers from all over the world think they’re a pot of gold.

How NOT To Choose An Agency

Once upon a time I used to bang out 6 or 7 articles a month for sundry marketing magazines around the world. Terrifying, eh?

Someone once asked me how I managed to find things to write about. "No problem," I replied. "I just have to flick through any marketing publication and I'm bound to find something absurd or stupid to comment on."

This came back to me when the other day I read with some amusement how a man who worked for me years ago had chosen a new agency for his big account.

Here's what made me laugh.

1. The whole process took over six months.


2. It was a "five-way pitch".


3. The agency he chose was staffed entirely by people he had worked with before.
   

Dr. Johnson said of sex that "the expense is damnable, the position is ridiculous, and the pleasure fleeting."

This came to mind when considering this pitch, with three other thoughts.

First I wondered on what the criteria the agency was selected. It was hard to tell from what I read. It seemed that the winners had "the right mix of planning and creative skills" - and I should hope so.

I was at least glad that the usual reason - "personal chemistry" - didn't creep in; after all, if you've worked with people already that should be no problem.

I also wondered: how did the people feel in the agencies that weren't stuffed with this chap's pals?

(By the way, don't go running away with the idea that this is one of those sad sour grapes pieces - we work for this firm's chief competitors, so my interest is purely professional).

The third thing I wondered was: how did this tortuous process affect what was going on in terms of marketing?

Just imagine all the meetings, the jargon-crammed documents written and read, the time spent seeing and discussing all the initial list of likely agencies before winnowing them down to a short list.

Then think of all the interminable presentations - which merge into one big blur of smiling faces and powerpoint shows, believe me. I imagine, too, that the people who tell you which agencies to see got their time and money.

What might all this money, time and energy have produced if devoted to marketing? Think about it.

And in the end, what has happened? An agency has been chosen on the basis of people knowing each other and an idea that sounds plausible enough to make them all think or hope will work.

STOP THE INSANITY

The one thing I'll wager did not happen is the one thing that should have. The one thing - and the only thing - that matters.

It is insane to choose an agency for any other reason than results in a business where you live or die on them - which this one does.

For a lot less, and a lot quicker the client could have asked a few agencies to create some material to test - and paid them, too. By now he would have an agency - and something that worked.

But what will actually happen?

There will be another few months spent while they do all this with the chosen agency - without doing the intelligent thing - testing their work against others.

I hope (though not too earnestly) it works out for them all - because if not, the pleasure will indeed be fleeting - just like the tenure of the average marketing director.

And I have just explained the chief reason why. What's more, what I'm talking about can be adapted to any kind of marketing, not just the direct kind.

An old friend of mine once worked for Charles Revson, the founder of Revlon. I asked him what Revson was like to work for.

"He was a nightmare" said my friend. "But I'll tell you one thing. He tested everything - even the price."

Best,
Drayton

P.S.  This is number 53 of Drayton Bird’s 101 free helpful marketing ideas.  You can sign up on the link below for the rest.

—————————————–

Website: www.draytonbirdcommonsense.com / www.eadim.com

Click here to get 101 free helpful marketing ideas. Marketers from all over the world think they’re a pot of gold.

What's The Difference Between A Good Advert And A Bad One?

I was in London last week, visiting my mum.

While lounging around and watching a little TeeVee (I don't have one at home), I couldn't help but criticise the vast majority of what's supposed to pass for advertising.

My younger brother, a lawyer and much more intellingent than I could hope to be, couldn't understand why.

You see, like too many people, my brothers have the notion that if an advert looks good and wins awards, then it's a success.

So I asked my brother one simple question...

"Assume you've just paid an agency to create an ad for you. It's looks good; it entertains its audience; and it even wins awards. But... it fails to get you any sales. You make no money from it.  Basically, that agency has just used your money to improve its own profile. How would you feel?"

He replied he wouldn't be too pleased.

Then I asked him if he understood the difference between a good ad and a bad one. And he replied he did.

A good ad is one which makes money for the advertiser.  A bad ad is one which doesn't.

End of story.

Does Sex Sell?

Well... what do you think?

There's something else I'm testing here I'll tell you about in a future post.

Who Wants To Hear About You?

What I am about to suggest to you is so basic I'm almost ashamed. But it's utterly essential - and too often ignored.

What's more, checking on it may do you more immediate good than all sorts of grander things like strategy and positioning.

Forgive me if you think it's beneath you - but I hope it isn't.

***

Here's a question for you.

What's the most powerful word in selling communications?

Would you say "free"?

I used to - but I suspect it's not, really. I think it is "you" - and derivations, like "yours" and "your".

Here's why.

1. You are what you're interested in most of all - sad but true.

2. The more time you use "you" words in your messages, the more they get read.

3. Conversely, the more you use "we" words - like us, our and ours - the less interested people are.

Marketing is like real life. In real life don't you hate people who boast and talk about themselves? In real life don't you prefer people who talk to you about your interests? Same in selling.

So, even if this sounds a bit basic, go through your messages - in whatever medium - and do a "me/you" count.

If the "you" words don't outgun the "me" words two to one - change things.

I just looked at the welcome page of one leading marketer. In less than 150 words - there was not one "you" word". But there were seventeen selfish "we" words, starting with that old friend "About us".

"Drayton," you may ask, "How can such trivia be important?"

Well, people often compare marketing to war - and use similar words, like "strategy", "territory", "conquest", "attrition" and so on. So here's some advice for you from a famous general.

Towards the end of his life, the Duke of Wellington was asked to what he owed his victories. "Attention to detail," he replied.

Pay attention to this little detail. Count how many times your messages talk about your customers - and how much they're about you. And get the balance right.

Best,
Drayton

P.S.  This is number 11 of Drayton Bird’s 101 free helpful marketing ideas.  You can sign up on the link below for the rest.

—————————————–

Website: www.draytonbird.com / www.eadim.com

Click here to get 101 free helpful marketing ideas. Marketers from all over the world think they’re a pot of gold.

You know that old line "By popular request" - usually followed by a lie?

Well for a change, here's a genuine example.

Many of you have asked me to carry on with these ideas and not finish on the next one - so, as I said last week, I shall.

And I'd really like your advice, Ghulam - but first, here's Jean Cocteau, who once began a speech by saying:

"I have said this many times before, but nobody listened, so I will say it again."



Well, I thought that this was a good time to mention three of the things I've covered in this series - then give you my helpful idea No 50. First, let me tell you what the three most opened ideas were.

They were:

No 2, which offered a PDF of Claude Hopkins book Scientific Advertising.

No 1, which suggested you take 5 minutes a day to think up reasons to talk to your prospects and customers.

No 17, which offered creative work at half-price to the first five people who replied.

Did you notice that two of the three featured incentives, reinforcing the truth in the old phrase "What's in it for me"? That's especially interesting as the other was the very first, which I guess people would naturally open more keenly than later ones.

But the very first one was about something I consider so important that I'm going to repeat it. And it was about the need to do things rather than sit around thinking about them.

In that piece I told a true story of two firms we did some work for. After we wrote a mailing for one, they took 6 months to do nothing except have meetings. Who knows, maybe they're still yacking away.

The other gets on with things. I've seen them get mailings out in under a week. They are the leaders in the field. The others, the slothful one, are big - but they won't stay that way.

People waffle on about the "entrepreneur" society.

They idolise people like Richard Branson - with whom I had some contact, with a few lessons I'll talk about in another piece.

But they don't act like Richard Branson.

Most people prefer talking rather than doing. And the bigger the firm, the more they talk and the less they do.

I think this is because nobody can be fired for something that never happened. That's why most businesses don't improve. It's also why most people are employees, not employers.

If you do one significant thing better each year you have a fair chance of outdoing your competitors. If you do two, you almost certainly will. If you do three, you'll wipe the floor with them.

So here is a cartoon I use sometimes in seminars just to remind you of that fact.



I use the Three Blind Mice from the nursery rhyme to emphasise what I just said.

You don't have to be a genius to beat the competition. You have to act.

I have no idea which three of the suggestions I've sent so far made the deepest impression on you. But please do me a favour. Take them and act on them.

And tomorrow...

PLEASE TAKE 3 MINUTES TO ADVISE ME

Many ideas have been suggested to me in the last ten weeks. I'd like to know which interest you. Tomorrow, I'll ask what you think.

Thank you - I have had so many thank you messages and kind comments, I've been genuinely astonished. I appreciate every one of them.

Creativity and Accountability In Advertising

In case you've never heard of Lester Wunderman, he's the advertising genius who first coined the term 'Direct Marketing'.

In this video Wunderman talks about 'accountable creativity'.

How Adverts Should Be

I'll keep this brief.

Check out this advert. It talks about a problem, then it gives a solution to the problem.

Here's what makes it particularly good:

It introduces the product, tells you what it does, and then it tells you how it does it.

And the close: It shows you exactly how to order the product.

Copywriting in motion.

How Adverts Should Be

I'll keep this brief.

Check out this advert. It talks about a problem, then it gives a solution to the problem.

Here's what makes it particularly good:

It introduces the product, tells you what it does, and then it tells you how it does it.

And the close: It shows you exactly how to order the product.

Copywriting in motion.

Here’s The Best (Childishly Simple) Advice I Ever Gave – By Far ...

Out of all the 101 helpful ideas I send out, one gets the biggest reaction – by far.

Yet it is the easiest to follow, and every single person who reads it has the same reaction. “I know that – but I’m not doing it”.

The idea says, in effect, “Don’t just sit there thinking about it, get on with it.”

When I gave introductory talks to my agency trainees I used to say the world is divided into two types of people. Those who make things happen, and those to whom things happen.

When David Ogilvy wanted to get the Shell account, he didn’t just sit there thinking. He got on a plane.

I know you want to do better because so many of you open my emails.

Why not start by giving yourself a 28-day free trial of one of my programmes?

Frankly, I’m a bit puzzled that you haven’t – because if you decide to go ahead at the end of the 28 days, the worse that can happen under the terms of my guarantee is that you will double your money.

But why am I criticising you when I can’t even count properly. That was pointed out to me by Al, who sends my emails out.

I told you I was stopping registration today – because I was counting 5 days from Monday – but all my emails this week went out a day late because Al had man-flu.

So you have over the weekend, till the next working day, to decide whether you prefer thinking about things to doing them.

The Gold group has only one place left, and the others are filling up.

Until then, if you missed it yesterday, here's me taking apart a mailing that was hugely successful.

Best,
Drayton

—————————————–

Website: www.draytonbirdcommonsense.com / www.eadim.com

Click here to get 101 free helpful marketing ideas. Marketers from all over the world think they’re a pot of gold.

The Drayton Bird Blog – please do not visit if you are easily offended.

Out of all the 101 helpful ideas I send out, one gets the biggest reaction – by far.

Yet it is the easiest to follow, and every single person who reads it has the same reaction. “I know that – but I’m not doing it”.

The idea says, in effect, “Don’t just sit there thinking about it, get on with it.”

When I gave introductory talks to my agency trainees I used to say the world is divided into two types of people. Those who make things happen, and those to whom things happen.

When David Ogilvy wanted to get the Shell account, he didn’t just sit there thinking. He got on a plane.

I know you want to do better because so many of you open my emails.

Why not start by giving yourself a 28-day free trial of one of my programmes?

Frankly, I’m a bit puzzled that you haven’t – because if you decide to go ahead at the end of the 28 days, the worse that can happen under the terms of my guarantee is that you will double your money.

But why am I criticising you when I can’t even count properly. That was pointed out to me by Al, who sends my emails out.

I told you I was stopping registration today – because I was counting 5 days from Monday – but all my emails this week went out a day late because Al had man-flu.

So you have over the weekend, till the next working day, to decide whether you prefer thinking about things to doing them.

The Gold group has only one place left, and the others are filling up.

Until then, if you missed it yesterday, here's me taking apart a mailing that was hugely successfulOut of all the 101 helpful ideas I send out, one gets the biggest reaction – by far.

Yet it is the easiest to follow, and every single person who reads it has the same reaction. “I know that – but I’m not doing it”.

The idea says, in effect, “Don’t just sit there thinking about it, get on with it.”

When I gave introductory talks to my agency trainees I used to say the world is divided into two types of people. Those who make things happen, and those to whom things happen.

When David Ogilvy wanted to get the Shell account, he didn’t just sit there thinking. He got on a plane.

I know you want to do better because so many of you open my emails.

Why not start by giving yourself a 28-day free trial of one of my programmes?

Frankly, I’m a bit puzzled that you haven’t – because if you decide to go ahead at the end of the 28 days, the worse that can happen under the terms of my guarantee is that you will double your money.

But why am I criticising you when I can’t even count properly. That was pointed out to me by Al, who sends my emails out.

I told you I was stopping registration today – because I was counting 5 days from Monday – but all my emails this week went out a day late because Al had man-flu.

So you have over the weekend, till the next working day, to decide whether you prefer thinking about things to doing them.

The Gold group has only one place left, and the others are filling up.

Until then, if you missed it yesterday, here's me taking apart a mailing that was hugely successful.
.

Mobile Marketing - The Future Of Making Money

Let me ask you a question: Why would you pay an arm and a leg paying for adwords when there's an alternative? A much cheaper alternative, which also just happens to be a much more efficient way of marketing.

Compared to adwords, the price is ridiculously low - and the traffic is potentially much higher.  In fact, the cost is almost next to nothing.

And what if I said you could improve your conversions by three to four times as much? (That’s 200 - 300% higher).

And what if I said it would cost about one tenth (1/10) of the price?

Does that sound ridiculously low?

Well it's a fact.

Now, I don’t know about you, but the open rates for my emails vary between 1.8% and around 10% - depending on how long I take to write them and how good they are.

And my conversions are anywhere between 1-2%, with some around the 10% mark - but those are exceptions - again, depending on how much time I take on writing the emails.

I think those figures are pretty much average.

Now imagine an opt-in rate of over 90%.

And potential markets of three billion plus people (3,000,000,000.00).  At around two cents per click.

How does that grab you?

Of course, you know the medium of advertising I'm referring to (it's in the headline). I'm sure you must have seen some of the latest launches promoting mobile marketing - there's been a couple.

Those little text messages you send and receive every day are a literal goldmine, and anyone who's anyone is singing its praises - from the wannabe gurus, to the real genuine 24 carat ones.

Can you imagine how easy it would be to target niches with this form of marketing?

Everyone who has a contract with their mobile phone has to give out almost all their personal information.

You could have their names, addresses, age, date of birth, and sex.  Literally everything you need to split them up into particular demographics.

Perfect for marketing to any group of people you want to target – without the hassle of contacting them via their home address, their emails, or their voice phones.

And let’s face it, the vast majority of people check their text messages – within a few minutes of it arriving.  How often do you get that happening with email?  Or ordinary paper mail?

And how often have you slammed down the phone on anyone you perceive to be trying to sell you something?

Now, I don't know about you, but I know where I'll be concentrating my marketing efforts for the foreseeable future.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not abandoning everything else.  But you have to also get in with the times.

See you there.

Click Here:

Mobile Marketing