Category Archives: Marketing

Email copy – Good… or not?

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Well, the other day I posted a thread here with a direct response copywriting exercise.
 
I was trying to add some hands on education to this site. And I did get a couple private emails asking for more posts like these.
 

But, other than that… nothing more than crickets chirping… and tumbleweeds rolling.

 
So, I’m thinking that maybe not too many people here are interested in exercising their sales copy skills?

 
But, I’ve never been one to “take the hint” (at least not on the first go around)
 
So let’s try again (one more time)… shall we?
 

This is an email I got from Netflix a couple days ago…
 
I won’t break it down with any critique this time. I’ll just let you look at it, and soak it all in…
 
So what do you think of it?
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A little activity to exercise your sales copy chops

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Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Copywriter (and all the ships at sea)

Here’s a little game to help you new writers (and experienced writers as well) exercise your sales copy brains.
 

I don’t remember when I first picked up the lesson? But one of my writing coaches taught it to me years ago. And every once in a while it’s something I still do (when I have the time)
 

Basically we take a winning sales letter and dissect it. To see what makes it work.

Today we’re looking at a direct mail piece I got, from a local insurance guy.
 

No, I didn’t write it. And I’m not affiliated with the guy in any way.
 
But I’ve gotten this same letter every couple months, for more than a year now. Which leads me to believe it’s a responsive control piece.
 
(for the new writers here, a “control piece” basically means it’s getting a good enough response rate, to make it worth mailing, over and over again)

 
I blocked out the contact info, just for privacy sake. But the rest of the letter is intact.
 

Anyway, here it is…
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Your FREE email opt-in offer, is not really free… So stop pretending like it is.

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I was browsing a couple online marketing forums the other day, and a number of threads jumped out at me.
They were all asking similar questions, like…

“Why aren’t people signing up for my email list? I’m giving away free stuff (a free report, free ebook, free sample, etc.) Doesn’t everybody want free stuff?”

 

Well, most experienced marketers already know the answer to this question.

But, for anyone (and everyone) who’s asking this type of question, let me answer it for you right now…

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Why I will never offer world-class service to my clients…

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Because it’s an insincere, superficial platitude, that has no genuine meaning!

Seriously, when some company offers me “World Class Service” – My first thought is “Well, that sounds impressive (I guess). But what does “world class service ” even mean?”

Does that mean you’re going to treat me the same as someone from a different culture, on the other side of the world, where there might be a different concept of what is or isn’t acceptable?

 

Here’s an idea… why don’t you offer me personalized service instead? And treat me like an individual.

I’m not trying to put myself above everyone else in the world, but if I’m spending my money with you, then for the next 10 minutes can you at least pretend like I’m an important individual.

Can ya do that for me, Skippy? Thanks.

 

Case in point…Continue reading→

Small business marketing is not an expense (it’s an investment)

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“Running a business without advertising and marketing is like winking in the dark; you know what you’re doing, but nobody else can see you.”

 

Small Business Advertising and Marketing

 

If you’ve been in business for any length of time, then you already know; there’s only 3 main ways you’re going to “stay in business”…

 
1) Increase your number of customers.

2) Increase the size (or dollar amount) of each sale.

3) Increase the frequency of repeat customers.

 

It’s not rocket science… it’s simple math!

– When you do 1 of these, your sales will go up.

– When you do 2 of these, your sales will multiply even more.

– When you do all 3, your sales, and profits, will expand geometrically.

 

Of course, there’s other ways to increase your bottom line, like cutting waste and streamlining efficiency.

But without customers, you don’t have a business; and nothing else is going to make a difference.

 

This is where advertising and marketing comes in

 
Unfortunately, here’s where most business owners go wrong…

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