Lean, Mean, and Powerful Direct-Mail Copy in 3 Simple Steps
Archives: Daily Issues
- WEALTHY: How long before things turn around? (Andrew Gordon)
- HEALTHY: Friends don’t let friends have heart attacks (Craig Ballantyne)
- WISE: Lee Iacocca on your legacy
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- The difference between being a dime-a-dozen direct-marketing hack and becoming a legend (Michael Masterson)
- The hurtful sound of silence (Suzanne Richardson)
- It’s Fun to Know… quotes about cheese
- Add “banal” to your vocabulary
== Advertisement ==
“Bailout” Loophole Could Make You Rich
Did you know the average American stands to collect as much $36,000 a year – in guaranteed income – thanks to a loophole in Bush’s bailout plan?
Long Live the King
The world didn’t get sick all at once. And it won’t recover all at once either.
Without the ravenous Chinese maw gobbling up ores and coal and oil in great big heaping mounds, commodity-exporting countries are now feeling the pain. Welcome, Canada, to economic hard times. Welcome, also, Australia, Russia, and Brazil.
But it’s the U.S. – the pied piper of countries worldwide – that led other economies down the path to ruin…
Europe followed obediently behind us. Their economies began to sour 6-8 months after ours.
It was only then that China reluctantly fell into line. They had their first sub-11 percent quarter in the April-to-May period. Now they’re watching consumers from Peoria to Paris ratchet down shopping as hope of a short recession fades.
It has taken more than a year for the rest of the world to catch the slow-growth virus. In following us down the rabbit hole, they’ll also follow us back up. But it’s a process. If we’re 10-24 months away from the beginning of a recovery, our fellow travelers are 16-30 months removed.
This is not a quick journey we’re on. Companies will need lots of cash to see it through. More than ever, cash is king.
[Ed. Note: The corporate world is having a tough time these days, but you can still make money if you pay attention to the "red flags" - signals that could predict (with as much as 92 percent certainty) when a company's stock is going to tank. Know that, and you could make a bundle. Find out how to spot these red flags right here.]
Lee Iacocca
Lean, Mean, and Powerful Direct-Mail Copy in 3 Simple Steps
I’ve worked on hundreds – maybe thousands – of direct-mail campaigns. I’ve written dozens of direct-mail sales letters myself, and I’ve worked with other copywriters on their letters. And I’ve never stopped trying to find new and better ways to make marketing copy stronger.
For the past few months, for example, I’ve been working on a book about the peer review process we use at ETR to evaluate sales copy. This book will be available early next year. Meanwhile, I want to share with you a method I’ve used for years. It incorporates the essence of the peer review process, as well as several other copy-strengthening techniques.
What follows is a simple but extremely effective and reliable way to make ordinary copy extraordinary. Some of the best copywriters and marketers I know have adopted individual parts of it for their own use. You may want to do the same.
Step 1: Power-charge the headline and lead.
Eighty percent of the impact (and the success) of a direct-mail promotion is derived from less than 20 percent of the copy. That 20 percent is the headline and lead (the first paragraph or two of the sales letter). If you think about how people read a sales letter, and how much attention they give to the beginning of it, that makes sense.
So Step 1 for me is all about focusing a good deal of time and talent on this portion of the promotion. Here’s what you do:
Give your copywriter (or yourself, if you’re the one doing the writing) two deadlines. The first deadline is for the headline and lead of the sales letter. The second deadline is for the rest of the promotion. Tell him to submit only one version – his best.
When you have the headline and lead, call together the copywriter (if he can take criticism) and three or four critics. I like to include people who have a variety of skills and backgrounds: a marketing executive, a product specialist, a creative person, and sometimes a typical buyer. As a group, you are going to assign numerical grades – from 1.0 to 4.0 – to the copy.
Start by rating the headline on the two jobs it absolutely must accomplish:
1. How well does it get itself noticed – i.e., how catchy is it?
2. Does it make you want to read further – i.e., how sticky is it?
If it fails to score an average of at least a 3.0, ask your panel for ideas on how to improve it. Do not entertain negative statements. Restrict their contributions to positive suggestions, and then rate those as either “helpful” or “not helpful.”
Once you’ve got your headline up to snuff, have your panel read the lead. Ask them if it succeeds in selling them to the point where they have a “Yes, this is just what I need” kind of feeling.
If the lead fails to merit a 3.0 or better, ask your panel for suggestions on how to make it better in terms of:
- Language. (Does the language convey enthusiasm and excitement?)
- Benefit. (Is the benefit big and sticky enough?)
- Believability. (Do you believe it’s for real?)
In four cases out of five, a single half-hour of this kind of work will produce a headline and lead that is strong to very strong.
Step 2: Sit down with your copywriter and review the main copy.
When the rest of the promotion is submitted by the copywriter, go through it carefully – highlighting every claim and promise made. Then sit down with him and determine if each is adequately supported. If it’s not, work with him to figure out how it could be done better.
At the same time, make sure it is balanced. A well-balanced promotion provides four things – what we call the Four-Legged Stool.
- A benefit. (It makes a desirable promise.)
- An idea. (It suggests something that distinguishes the product from its competitors.)
- Credibility. (It establishes that the writer of the sales letter, the product, and the manufacturer of the product are reliable and trustworthy.)
- A track record. (It proves that all the claims are true.)
At the end of this session, your copywriter should know exactly what he has to do in order to come back with a very strong revision.
Step 3: Subject the revised promotion to a “live test.”
Get four people who have bought products that are similar to the one this promotion is selling to agree to evaluate the promotion. (They could be people you know personally or previous customers. In either case, be prepared to offer them something – perhaps a sample of the product – to thank them for their time.)
Ask them to read the promotion and to mark next to each head, subhead, and paragraph whether they find it to be good, bad, or indifferent.
When their comments are returned, sit down with the copywriter again and go through the marks one by one. Where you have universal or nearly universal “goods,” leave the copy as is. Where you have four “bads,” the copy will have to be changed. Where you have mixed reviews, use your best judgment.
(By the way, as I said, the headline and lead are responsible for 80 percent of the success of any promotion – so if the copywriter still doesn’t get that part up to your satisfaction after a third go at it, pay him a “kill” fee and find someone else.)
Add up the total amount of time spent doing this, and you are talking about an investment of between 90 minutes and six hours. What you can get from that investment is almost amazing.
I’ve seen packages that were originally capable of pulling, say, one-half of 1 percent brought up to where they pulled 2 percent. If you figure that out in terms of dollar impact, it could easily be in the hundreds of thousands – and quite possibly in the millions.
Even more important, your batting average as a marketer will improve dramatically with this system. If you were making, say, one package out of three work beforehand, you could very well raise your success rate to one out of two.
What can that mean to your overall career? Simply the difference between being a dime-a-dozen direct-mail hack and becoming a legend.
[Ed. Note: Knowing how to improve direct-mail copy is just one way you can become a more valuable employee. Master other money-making marketing strategies, and you could turn yourself into your company's superstar. Michael Masterson and MaryEllen Tribby have combined their 60+ years of business-building and marketing experience in one easy-to-read book. Changing the Channel: 12 Easy Ways to Make Millions for Your Business reveals 12 profit-acceleration secrets that can help YOU boost your company's revenues... and skyrocket your own career. Get your copy here.
Be sure to watch for Michael Masterson's upcoming book on the peer review process for marketing copy. In the meantime, get more copywriting advice from the experts at AWAI. Sign up for their e-letter, The Golden Thread, right here.]
You Can Keep Your Current Job While You Quickly Transition Into Your New Business
How in the world do these money-making programs expect you to work tons of hours building up a new business while holding down your current job? Many just aren’t practical. But I’ve found a new program that is loaded with methods to get you into a new business while you are working at another job.
You can put in as little as 2 to 3 hours a week in your new business, and still bring in nice profits fairly quickly – often in just a week or two. And once your business is bringing in enough income, you can quit your current job and focus full-time on your new business. You get to choose which business to get into (there are 20 to choose from), there’s no limit on what you can make, and it is easier than ever to get started.
There is, however, a limit on how many people I am sharing this with. You’ll learn why when checking out all the exciting details here.
Helping Someone Grieve
Winston recently lost his brother to cancer. When a dear friend failed to call him afterward, Winston was hurt. “Why didn’t Alison call?” he wondered. “She must not care.”
Maybe Alison felt uncomfortable… Maybe she didn’t know what to say… Maybe she wanted to give Winston a few days to compose himself. But whatever she was thinking, not calling as soon as she heard about his brother’s death was a mistake.
When people lose someone close to them, they don’t need silence. They need to feel that other people care – that they are not alone.
If you don’t know what to say, tell them that you don’t know what to say. If you feel awkward, tell them that you feel awkward. But no matter what you do, or how you convey your condolences, make sure you acknowledge their loss instead of avoiding it.
Saying something as simple as “I’m so sorry for your loss” will give your friend the sympathy he needs.
[Ed. Note: What's most important to you during times of loss? How would you like your friends and loved ones to show you they care? Let us know in the comments section right here.]
Social Support for Heart Health
For years, I’ve been preaching about the importance of having social support for weight loss. If you want to lose weight, you need to hang around – and stay in contact with – other folks who have the same goals as you.
Now researchers from the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in California, including the venerable Dr. Dean Ornish, have completed a study showing that social support groups also help heart health.
The researchers studied 440 women with coronary artery disease for one year. Subjects participating in social support groups achieved significant improvements in blood pressure, as well as in behaviors that increase overall health.
If you are currently trying to make improvements in your health all by yourself, consider getting some social support. Here are three ways to do it:
1. Find a nutrition buddy at work who (like you) wants to eat better. Eat lunch with him, rather than the “pizza gang.”
2. Get a workout partner or personal trainer to keep you motivated and committed to exercise.
3. Spend time online or offline with a social support group. Share experiences and solutions to the daily trials and tribulations faced by all of us who are trying to stay healthy in this high-calorie world.
[Ed. Note: Online support can be very helpful when it comes to reaching your fitness goals. And now, as Craig just reported, it can also help make your heart healthier. Share your weight-loss struggles, diet and exercise techniques, and encouragement for free right here.
And if you want a topnotch fitness program that can help you burn fat and build muscle, check out Craig Ballantyne's Turbulence Training program right here.]
It’s Fun to Know: Quotes About Cheese
For all you turophiliacs (cheese lovers) out there, here are some quotes about your favorite food that you might be able to work into conversation:
• “A cheese may disappoint. It may be dull, it may be naive, it may be oversophisticated. Yet it remains cheese, milk’s leap toward immortality.” (Clifton Fadiman)
• “You put your left index finger on your eye and your right index finger on the [Camembert] cheese. If they sort of feel the same, the cheese is ready.” (M. Taittinger)
• “Right now, I’m as single as a slice of American cheese.” (Nick Cannon)
• “Wine and cheese are ageless companions, like aspirin and aches, or June and moon, or good people and noble ventures.” (M.F.K. Fisher)
• “A dessert without cheese is like a beautiful woman who has lost an eye.” (Brillat-Savarin)
== Highly Recommended ==
Success Is as Easy as Flipping on a Light Switch…
Suppose that there was an almost magical switch you could flip that would put all your dreams within reach.
And I’m talking ALL your dreams…
Adding a few thousand bucks to your paycheck each week. (And who doesn’t want a little extra cash?) Turning your passion for gardening into a small business… or becoming a black-belt martial artist… or writing a book of poems.
Whatever you want to do…
Here’s your chance to get everything you want out of life.
Word to the Wise: Banal
Something that’s “banal” (BAY-nul or buh-NALL) is trivial or trite. The word is derived from a French word meaning “of or relating to compulsory feudal service.” This evolved to signify “merely obligatory” – hence, commonplace.
Example (as used by Joyce Carol Oates in The New York Times): “How does the poet transform his banal thoughts (are not most thoughts banal?) into such stunning forms, into beauty?”
[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
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Tags: direct mail lean
this is exactly the article that i want to see from early to rise newsletter – finally see it after almost an year of subscription.
There’s one huge problem with Masterson’s copy development process — the copywriter is not allowed to state what he is trying to get across. Thus if it is not entirely clear in the head/lead, and the writer must sit mute, the concept is trashed instead of improved. It might be a superb concept, just not quite there yet. You can’t expect others on review panel, who are not trained editors, to see writer’s intent. Thus is the arrogance of Masterson’s technique, and the reason Agora slaps up so many different leads, burns through subscribers like cheap Duraflame fire logs.
Nvestgrrl – Michael Masterson has built a $300m+ a year business using his techniques. You? I’m sorry, but if ‘cheap Duraflame fire logs’ is an example of your copywriting skills, I’m afraid I’m going to have to side with Michael!
While I was taking the basic copywriters course, and later, the masters course,I felt that no matter how many headlines and leads I produced, they would never meet AWAI’s approval. To me the exercise became futile. I love to write and always did (and still do) want to write advertising copy. I like brevity and ideas condensed to a few words. But I cannot get the
approval of those who evaluate student copy. And I simply will pay no more for additional courses or counselors. I’ve put so much money into the system already that I’m ashamed.