Is Your Marketing Copy Breaking This Cardinal Rule?
Issue #2274
- WEALTHY: Selling to an unusual niche (Michael Masterson)
- HEALTHY: Why your fish monger should be your new best friend (Kelley Herring)
- WISE: Gene Schwartz on marketing
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- A common copywriting mistake that could be killing your sales (Paul Hollingshead)
- Are you using this word incorrectly? (Don Hauptman)
- It’s Fun to Know… about the Ikea catalog
- Add "extirpate" to your vocabulary
Confidential Report: Disillusioned Trader Opens "Money-Floodgates" to YOU…
Rob Banks Legally… With an Inside Job!
Are You Ready for a "Smash and Grab" on the World’s "Hidden" Money-Mountain?
Great! The getaway car’s leaving…
Dear ETR: "Is there any juice in this idea?"
"Michael, you are my mentor. I read and admire everything you say about business and life in general.
"About Me: I am 28 years old, East Indian, own hotels as a family business.
"My Goal: To have a product that can be sent/billed for on a regular monthly basis. I have an idea (below), and I want to know if you think I am moving in the right direction… or should scrap it.
"My Big Idea: Vitamin-type supplement for the East Indian community. These pills would make up for the nutrients we don’t get because we cook/fry 90% of our foods (mostly vegetables) in oil. I haven’t done any research yet, but I am sure this diet has negative effects on our health.
"Marketing Method: Direct-mail or e-mail test to East Indians in the U.S. Hire a copywriter to write the sales letter. Then, if enough interest is shown, create the product.
"Is there any juice in this idea?"
- M. Singh
Kent, WA
Dear M.,
What you are attempting sounds sensible, but is harder than it may seem.
Marketing any sort of health-improvement or self-improvement product to an ethnic or social or even gender group usually fails, because we have been taught to believe that we are all biophysically the same. What works for Caucasians should work for everyone else. I have been involved in several such launches - always advising against them - and have yet to see one work.
Of course, that doesn’t mean your idea doesn’t have a chance.
You are smart in thinking that you should test it by direct mail or direct e-mail. Can you get a list of East Indian direct-mail buyers? If so, test your idea. If not - if you can’t get a list of proven buyers - don’t test it. A list that you simply compile from names in a phonebook or census, for example, won’t work.
At this point, I’d like you to take a step back and ask yourself what your primary goal is. (To service the East Indian community? To sell nutritional products? To make money?) You need to figure out the answer to that question, because it will affect the way you do business.
If your goal is to service the community, set up a website and start an e-zine and begin to attract East Indian readers. When you have 10,000 of them, come back to me with a marketing plan… and then we’ll talk.
If your goal is to sell nutritional products, study everything you can find about nutrition on the Internet, choose a successful product to imitate, and then get to work on your own version of it.
If your goal is to make money, come to ETR’s “Profits in Paradise” Wealth-Building Summit this April.
- Michael Masterson
[Ed. Note: For proven techniques that will help you grow your existing business or get your business idea off the ground, check out Michael’s newest book, Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat.
Send your questions to AskETR@ETRFeedback.com. Include your full name, your hometown and state, and the ETR team may answer you in an upcoming issue.]
"The physical part of your product does not sell. People do not buy the steel in a car, the glass in a vase, the tobacco in a cigarette, or the paper in a book…. The important part of your product is what it does."
Gene Schwartz
Is Your Marketing Copy Breaking This Cardinal Rule?
Recently, I reviewed some copy from a copywriter who’s been writing for a while. It wasn’t bad. But it didn’t rise above the vast heap of promotions clamoring for attention.
So - as it stood - I knew it wouldn’t get read. And the product wouldn’t get sold.
The problem? Simply this: The copywriter was trying too hard to sell the product… by focusing too much on the product itself.
It’s a common mistake made by novice and B-level copywriters. They put too much effort into describing the product… what it is… and how it works.
That breaks the cardinal rule of copywriting: Keep the product invisible.
Michael Masterson calls this the "Secret of Transparency." The idea is to make your product transparent, or invisible, by focusing on the benefits and the ways the product improves your prospect’s life.
This is a VERY important copywriting rule.
Your prospect doesn’t want another book, manual, or gadget. What he wants is to be successful… or wealthy… or healthy… or attractive. The copywriter’s job is to get to that "Aha!" moment where he’ll suddenly realize that what you’re selling will help him get there.
Let’s look at a concrete example.
Imagine you’re selling a new personal success program written by a self-help guru. The basic promise of the program: "You can be successful without really trying, simply by switching on an internal mental switch."
If your copy focuses on the product from the beginning, you run a very real risk. First, your product will sound very ordinary - like so many programs out there. Second, your prospect - spurred by your copy - can easily go to Amazon and buy a book that makes a similar promise. You made a sale. But the wrong one.
In our example, you’re selling the secret to automatic success… in anything your prospect sets out to accomplish. You’re selling a "secret" that’s used by some of the world’s happiest and wealthiest people… something they learned very easily that transformed their lives.
So you focus on your underlying big promise, which, in this example, might be simply "automatic success." You do it by revealing just a little bit of the program here and there - and focusing on the benefits and the resulting impact these simple little secrets can have on your prospect’s life: wealth, success in business, better personal relationships… and that magnificent feeling of knowing that he can accomplish anything. All because he alters his thinking in a very small but profound way.
What you don’t want to do is give him a long-winded dissertation on the history of the program and how it works. This sort of approach gives the prospect too many chances to opt out. It’s boring to him because it isn’t about his needs, wants, desires, fears, or passions.
The bottom line is this. Your prospect needs to leave your sales letter convinced he’s found the "missing key" to his success. Finally, he’s discovered what makes successful people successful. This is his lucky day. Had he not read this letter, he might never have known about it.
And now he wants more.
One more thing…
When you use the Secret of Transparency by keeping the product invisible and focusing on benefits, be sure that, throughout the copy, everything you say is subtly connected to your central and main promise - "automatic success," in our example. Always keep in mind that once you slip into explaining what the product is, it loses its luster. It becomes ordinary. And you risk having your prospect lose sight of the "big idea" behind your sales message.
And how do you find your product’s "big idea"? After collecting and studying all your research, step back and ask yourself: "What’s the most exciting thing this product can do for me? What can it do for my prospect?" Get excited about the product’s benefits - and share your enthusiasm with your prospect.
Adopting the Secret of Transparency may seem counter-intuitive. But when you apply it to your marketing copy - while less-informed marketers continue to focus their copy on the product - your sales campaigns will be successful when your competitors’ fail.
[Ed Note: Paul Hollingshead is an expert copywriter and a co-founder of American Writers and Artists Inc. (AWAI). The Secret of Transparency is one of over 60 deep-rooted secrets in AWAI’s Master’s Program. Each one is explained in precise detail… with examples to help you understand them… and simple exercises designed to make sure you never forget them. Learn more here.]
The Greatest Medical Discovery of the Century
Scientists have discovered a remarkable substance that has the power to prevent diabetes, stop heart disease before it starts, and kill cancer cells on contact. In fact, this substance has been shown to prevent and treat more than 20 major diseases in all!
However, more than 85% of the population is deficient in this disease-killer at least part of the year. And believe it or not, medical professionals and health authorities actually advise people to avoid the single greatest source of this vital substance.
Click here to learn why you probably haven’t heard about this revolutionary discovery.
Fight Fat with Fish
If you’re keen on getting svelte (or just dropping a few pounds), you may want to stock up on fish, new research suggests.
A study published in Clinical Endocrinology examined how specific fatty acids in muscle cells influence the body’s response to insulin and weight loss.
Twenty-one obese participants ate a diet that emphasized lean fish - not fatty fish or fish oil supplements. At the end of the study, the participants had lost an average of 11.2 pounds and reduced their body mass index (BMI) by 4.3 percent. They also saw an 11 percent reduction in their saturated fat levels, and an increase in their omega-6 (4 percent) and omega-3 (51 percent) fatty acid levels.
While wild salmon (a fatty fish) offers a boatload of health benefits, many leaner fish are great for you, too. We love the sustainably harvested wild varieties available at your local market, including flash-frozen mahi-mahi, Alaskan cod, and Pacific halibut. They’re easy to prepare, economical, and satisfying.
[Ed. Note: Kelley Herring is the founder and CEO of Healing Gourmet (www.healinggourmet.com), and is editor-in-chief of the Healing Gourmet book series. Learn more about how simple lifestyle choices can improve your health by reading ETR’s free natural health e-letter.]
The Language Perfectionist: This Tip Will Pay High "Interest"
By Don Hauptman
What’s wrong with the following three examples?
- We’ve seen a marked increase in the number of candidates disinterested in positions requiring heavy travel.
- Headline: Congress Disinterested in Whether USDA Program Works
- Interest in return to the Moon is slim, with 29% interested, 45% neutral, and 23% disinterested.
The word disinterested does not mean uninterested . Rather, disinterested means impartial, unbiased, fair-minded, having no vested interest in the matter under consideration.
This is probably one of the most commonly misused words in the English language. Some language gurus and permissive dictionaries even argue that because the incorrect use is so prevalent, it’s now "correct."
I disagree. The word disinterested serves a useful purpose. It would be a shame if its meaning became irrelevant as a result of its blurring with another word.
So let’s maintain the distinction between disinterested and uninterested . This may help you remember how to do it: If you were on trial for murder, you would want the judge to be disinterested - but not uninterested.
[Ed Note: Don Hauptman was a direct-response copywriter for more than 30 years. For his direct-mail subscription packages, he won The Newsletter on Newsletters promotion award for 10 years. He also writes about the English language and is now working on a humorous new book in that genre.]
It’s Fun to Know: The Ikea Catalog
The Bible is the best-selling book of all time. But in 2004, the Ikea catalog overtook the Good Book in terms of annual circulation. The Swedish home furnishing company distributed 145 million copies of its catalog, compared to the 25 million copies of the Bible that were sold that year.
(Source: This Is London and That’s a Fact Jack! )
Take Charge of Your Future
You don’t have much spare time… you’re not exactly rolling in the bucks… and you’re no Bill Gates when it comes to technology.
We’ve heard you… and that’s why we asked Marc Charles to be our “advance scout” for profit opportunities that you can run from a kitchen table, your desktop, or out on the road.
They’ve got to be inexpensive and easy to start, without a lot of red tape or technical know-how, and still have great income potential.
There’s a reason they call this guy “The King of Business Opportunities”…why not take a look at what he’s got for you?
- Patrick Coffey
Word to the Wise: Extirpate
To "extirpate" (EK-stur-pate) - from the Latin - literally means to pull up by the root. In other words, to completely destroy.
Example (as used by Philip Kennicott in The Washington Post): " A plant growing where it shouldn’t is a weed. An object for which you have no need or sentimental attachment is garbage. Extirpate the one, toss the other."
[Ed. Note: Become a more persuasive writer and speaker … build your self-confidence and intellect … increase your attractiveness to others … just by spending 10 VERY enjoyable minutes a day with ETR’s new Words to the Wise CD Library.]
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2008