Great design can’t do diddly to help bad sales copy. Great sales copy can often succeed despite bad design. But when great copy and great design work together? Watch out. So how can you make sure you’re getting the best work from the person who will layout your lovingly crafted sales letter? Continue Reading
The general rule is that good design can’t make bad copy work, but bad design can destroy the performance of good copy. So it matters. Just know how it matters. But what else can you do to make sure you get a “good” design for any sales pieces you write? To start, you’ll at least want your designer to know the following… 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
Analogies can be a powerful tool when used well. But, like a parachute made from a volleyball net, they can sabotage your message when they’re terrible… Continue Reading
“We must not be free because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.” – William Faulkner My friend Paul Hollingshead is pretty smart fella. He recently wrote a piece that shared the math on this career path we’ve chosen,… 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
On D-Day, hundreds of thousands of Allied troops pulled off the largest invasion in history, forcing their way into Nazi-occupied Europe. Strategy was key. So was equipment. But the real mettle of the moment came from the soldiers staging the… 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