How to find the sales benefit that will matter most to your target customer.
Once in awhile, you can’t beat a good case study. And what better case study for a copywriter or direct marketer to learn from than the profile of a legendary direct-mail publisher: Rodale. Continue Reading
Why thank customers? The short answer, of course, is “why not?” Unless you were raised by wolverines, it’s a common courtesy you’re proud to offer… am I right? The longer answer is that it’s practically money in the bank for… Continue Reading
But in each case, what makes the headline work is not just empathy for a reader’s concerns. That’s only the hook. Where the copy works is in offering a final, credible solution. If you can manage that… well then… you’ve nothing to be afraid of, right? Continue Reading
I shaved this morning thinking about “commodity hell.” That’s when a market for a product is so crowded, every product is virtually the same. Interchangeable with the competition. And the only way to get ahead is to slash prices until the pain of profit loss squeezes either you or those competitors out of the business. This is not a position, generally, you want to fall into. But it happens… Continue Reading
With a pivot and a leap, I landed back on another moving walkway ready for another full tilt run… when something went “pop” in my left leg. Like a bullet, like a hammer, like something your leg is not supposed to do… especially when you’ve got a flight to catch… but it went ahead and did it anyway. Continue Reading
When Kathleen retired recently, it was national news. Why? Precisely because, at the moment I write this, Kathleen is exactly 62 years, one month, 25 days, 17 hours, and 42 minutes old. That makes Kathleen the absolute very first born of… the “Baby Boomers.” Continue Reading
You brainstorm to get ideas when you have none. Ideally, you do so in a group. So you can feed off each other. So you can legitimize sitting around drinking coffee. So you can get others to do all the hard thinking for you. In all those respects, group brainstorming is a good thing. But what do you do when you’re writing in isolation? Continue Reading
In the another post, we figured out how to heap lots of “thanks” upon the plates of our best customers. Without further ado, here are seven more suggestions, numbered accordingly… 8 ) THANK-YOU “COUPONS” FOR THE NEXT PURCHASE – Okay, this… Continue Reading
Copywriters are hired guns. We usually don’t create the products we sell, just get hired to sell them. So how, pray tell, are you supposed to write copy that sells a product that… well… stinks? Continue Reading
It’s shameless, really, the way I dote. To some of my friends, it’s even downright embarrassing. Yes, I confess, I’m crazy for Cupertino — particularly the stuff that comes out of you-know-which-company. The iPad and iPods, Macbooks, Minis, the Time… Continue Reading