Finding the Elephant…
What’s it mean to be “creative?” Says the great John Cleese, that’s an almost impossible question to answer. Easier is to ask yourself, “What doesn’t it mean?” Watch here… Continue Reading
Psychology
The Single Secret to Success?
Tom Bay wrote a book about Harvard Business School Grads and their financial success — or lack of it. About 10 years after graduation from what’s supposed to be the echelon of rockin’ good business brilliance, here’s how the students’ status… Continue Reading
Which Promises Work Best?
“That’s right – it filets, it chops, it dices and slices. It never stops. It lasts a lifetime, mows your lawn, and it picks up the kids from school. It plays a mean rhythm. It makes excuses for lipstick on… Continue Reading
Why Your Customers Lie
Every one of your customers is an untrustworthy, fraudulent, false-hearted, cheating, calculating, double-dealing… (deep breath)… crafty, duplicitous, disingenuous, untruthful, scheming… stinker. Well maybe not a stinker. But liars they are. It’s true. How so? Continue Reading
A Lucky Accident
I got a note awhile ago from consultant Bob Serling Bob writes: “Years ago, I was using a print broker for some of my mailings. She had been referred to me by a direct marketing legend whose identity I’ll protect… Continue Reading
14 Ways to Make Your Prospect Relax
I’m not unveiling any big secret by telling you that a lot of what you’ll do when selling is all about emotion. And it has to be that way. Why? Because we humans — the thinking animal — are perversely… Continue Reading
Can You Judge a Customer By His… Computer
A few years back, Apple had a long-running ad campain, “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC.” It worked, but why? Perhaps because it was textbook psychographic targeting, associating the product with a personality type. Maybe this will help explain: In… Continue Reading
Are You Creative?
There is no “Creativity Quotient” (C.Q.) test that measures how creative you are. But the same Scientific American research found that creative people often have similar character traits. Do any of these apply to you? Continue Reading
#486: A Sweet, Dark History of the Promise Lead
When writing a Promise-Driven Lead, where should you start? The default for most marketers is to study the product and just figure out what it can do best. We’ve all heard, after all, the lesson about “features” versus “benefits.” First… Continue Reading
What’s The “Big Idea?”
What’s the single toughest secret you’ll ever learn, if you hope to blow the doors off the world of writing sales copy? For all the clever metaphors you’ll ever come up with, for all the phrases and images, the formatting… Continue Reading