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pepperjamBlog » Blog Archive » BREAKING NEWS: Google Launches FREE Bid Management Technolog

From the page: "Social networking has thus far been primarily about connecting with lost friends, playing simple games, and gawking at strangers. Aside from the amazing ability to reconnect with buddies from middle school, the rest of social networking mirrors normal human behavior in real life. Lots of people need an avenue for rest and relaxation. Dumb games like Pirates vs. Ninjas on Facebook replaces old time-wasters like watching TV. Who hasn�t been to the mall or the park watching people pass by? We�re all voyeurs to some degree but social networks like Myspace (NWS-A) make us Peeping Toms powered by technology."

From the page: "nside this post…

* An easy way to boost response 20% to 47%
* Creates 25% response from Fortune 500 executives
* The one rule you must follow to make it work

Here�s a simple way to boost your response on your next promotion…

I�ve used it in the �oeold days” offline, on-line, for small businesses, for Fortune 100 businesses. Time and again it�s proven to boost response by 20%, 47% and up. It created a 38% response rate for one direct mailer.

Let�s say you are a Fortune 100 retailer and your big back to school weekend sale is coming up. Your direct mail is lined up, radio ads, TV, and print campaigns. But, you want to insure you maximize your sales�"and minimize your competitors success.

Simply do an inexpensive, 20 - 30 second voice marketing call to your customers.

�oeHi, this is Susan over at �oeFashions” and I wanted to give you a heads-up that today or tomorrow you�ll be getting a postcard from us with exclusive, customer only savings. You can�t miss it, the postcard is gold and purple and says, �oeFashions” at the top. Anyway, I didn�t want you to miss the savings. Bye now.”

That simple message will cause your direct mail response will jump 20-50%. And as a nice bonus, your average purchase amount will jump 5% to 10%.

I call it the �oePaul Revere” method. You send a messenger in advance of your message.

I had a client that used to drop 20 page, $2 a piece mailers out to his list. Before he spent the big bucks, he sent a postcard ahead telling them an important package would be arriving in a few days.

I�ve had clients pre-call on faxes and emails, send postcards in advance of major mailings, email announcing an important email, Radio and TV can be used to drive people online, to direct mail, etc. The ways and media you choose to use for this strategy are limitless.

In fact, many of the online �oeproduct launch” strategies we see these days are extended versions of this simple strategy.

I�ve had clients get through to �oeinaccessible” Fortune 500 execs by first calling receptionist and saying they just needed to leave a message, no need to talk to the executive. Then on the message alerting the executive that an email with an important white-paper, research report, etc. was coming through his or her email. In one case, the sales reps got conversations with 25% of these high level executives.

Two cautions:

First, your teaser message must tease.

If it reveals too much you can actually reduce your response rate. I analyzed a bunch of campaigns and discovered that the poor performers all revealed too much in the message. A natural reflex by many advertisers was to try to make a complete sale - reveal all the information in both messages. But when the results came in, the messages that teased, won. Those that revealed - lost.

Two: It has to be cost effective. The teaser message carries a cost. The increase in response and ROI has to cover the additional cost of the teaser message.

This is one of the quickest �oenon-copy” ways to boost response.

How can you use a �oePaul Revere” message to increase response on your next project?

P.S. If you haven�t explored it, I would strongly suggest you take a look at voice marketing. And I would encourage you to use SmartReply as your provider. Minimal cost. Maximum impact.

Members who read this post also enjoyed the ideas on �oeknocking your competitors out in 30 seconds” and this post revealing �oe8 fast-start copywriting formulas�oe.

P.S. Doh! After a year, I�ve finally put some info in the �oeAbout” section of this blog �" so, if you�ve been wondering who I am, what I�m about and how to contact me, you can view it here…"

From the page: "�oeStory selling” seems to be the magic amulet of the moment these days. So, I point you to a �oemicro story” written by Hemingway.

Example:

�oeFor Sale: Baby shoes. Never Worn.” - Attributed to Ernest Hemingway

There you have it. 6 words.

Could you communicate more emotion about a product in that few words? If not you, like me, have some work to do.

I love long copy. But I�m afraid its become an excuse for lazy writing.

I�ve noted before that copy master, Frank Irving Fletcher felt most things could be sold in 100 words or less. He forced himself to condense. As he did, his copy gained power. He wasn�t cutting out sales arguments. He was mastering the art of expressing them until they were coiled springs of sales energy.

He said one of the best lessons in writing came from a small ad he ran for 5 years, 3 times a week, always different and always one column inch in the newspaper. It forced his mind to condense a sales argument or idea to its sinewy essence.

Hemingway gave us a model of condensation above. It keeps one humble to study the masters."

From the page: "Over 20 years ago now, I was in a round table discussion debating the colleges restraints on creativity in regard to skits. There were tight �oemoral” guidelines and each skit had to be performed and �oechecked” by a member of the faculty.

One member of the panel was describing what a terrible constraint this was to the student�s creative development. At the beginning of the discussion this was my position as well. I wasn�t into creative handcuffs.

But, as this panel member was speaking, something struck me as wrong with the position. It was just a spark of an idea that quickly grew into a passionate conviction within 10 seconds.

What I had suddenly realized was restraint and discipline were actually an important excellerant to creativity. In the case of skits - trying to be funny within tight moral guidelines didn�t kill creativity - it actually made one have to be more funny.

I�ve mentioned in this blog before that Frank Irving Fletcher felt the 10 years he had to write 3 ads a week for a client using only one column inch in the paper was the best training in copywriting he ever recieved. He attributed it as being the forge upon which his $200,000 a year (in 1930�s) skills were tempered.

The small space constraints didn�t make him less persuasive - but more persuasive. He had to compress and distill ideas down to their nuclear essence.

Yet another famous ad writer of the last century believed that copywriters should take up poetry. The forced discipline of writing to meter and ryhme forced one to become better at expressing ideas, using metaphor and creating emotional reactions in the reader.

How common it is to here an ad agency creative mocking rules for ad writing. What those creatives don�t understand is that by following tested guidelines, their creativity would go to another level.

Over a 4 year period I crafted a good 500+ 30 second messages for a client. I was continually amazed at new discoveries I made about communicating persuasive ideas within those constraints: The importance of idea sequence, the craft of picking the most important selling point from a list of 6. The use of metaphor to make ideas hit like a jack-hammer, how a single idea could be expressed 5 or 6 different ways, the imperative for a single-purpose focus and more…

I prefer longer copy - but I have to admit the discipline did wonders for my ability to sell in print.

Two thoughts…

1. Find a writing hobby like poetry or a space limit and practice writing to constraints.

2. The next time an unreasonable client gives you an unreasonable objective for the space/time required, smile. You�re about to kick your ability to persuade in print up a few notches."

From the page: "Fact: The most important element of the headline is the core appeal. Second comes the way that appeal is expressed.

Twice now in the last 3 months I�ve worked with my clients to shatter previous results by combining the two highest testing core appeals into a single headline. The result isn�t just (1+1 = 2). Rather, (1+1 = Breakthrough!)

And most remarkably, those breakthroughs aren�t created by pouring on the �oeAmazing, Shocking, Killer, Miracle” adjectives all packed into 20 word headlines. Often they are just 4 word and two word headlines, simply stated, that when combined create explosive results.

Unfortunately, I can�t share the specific headlines and appeals since they are in active and profitable use by my clients. But what I can share is the process by which these breakthrough headlines were created through appeal combining.

Let�s take a market I have some hard research on but don�t have a client approaching at this moment - entrepreneurs.

What core appeals are highest on their radar?

Why, I happen to have some tested research here at my finger tips that shows that, right now, the strongest appeals to entrepreneurs are 1. Management 2. Millionaire and 3. Leadership.

So, let�s combine the two winners…

�oeMillionaire Management”

�oeMillion-Dollar Management”

And lets add in the 3rd place appeal just to test - you never know…

�oeMillion-Dollar Leadership”

That�s all there is to it. If you happen to be marketing to Entrepreneurs - you�re welcome.

Of course you can spice them up a bit: �oeSecrets of Million-Dollar Management” �oeHow to become a Million-Dollar Manager” �oeThe Million-Dollar Management Secrets of Will Smates”. �oe1001 Million-Dollar Management Secrets”, etc. You get the idea. But the fact remains it is those core appeals that are the sales driving engines in your headlines.

Do you know what the top 3 appeals are to your market? No? Shame, shame, shame. If you don�t take a look at your recent headline test, or create some quick subject line test in emails, and start combining the winning appeals.

If you don�t know what the winning appeals are - strip away all the adjectives, adverbs and modifiers out of your headlines and just look at the nouns and verbs. Those are your core appeals.

Okay, there you have it. A short-course primer in creating a �oeMillion Dollar Copywriting Breakthrough”.

Seriously. I can�t believe I shared this little secret of mine in public. You should memorize this post before I feel regret and delete it."

From the page: "A recent discussion over on a copywriting forum opened the pros and cons of using a swipe-file when writing your own copy. I�m reprinting my response below…

There are degrees of swiping…

Great copywriters of the past have used all of them…

Level One: The direct swipe… �oeDo you make these mistakes….” Bencivenga swiped that one from ole� Max Sackheim. The dollar bill letter - Halbert swiped that from Collier. I swiped it from Halbert

Level Two: The Formula Swipe… Eugene Schwartz emphasized that each copy situation was unique. So just stealing headlines wasn�t the way to breakthrough success. But, that there were common formulas that could be applied in unique situations. That�s a higher level of swiping -

Level Three: Thinking Processes… I was turned on to this by an old advertising book from the late 30�s. It looked at each copy situation/ad as a unique problem, never before solved. Every ad problem demanded a unique solution. Then it went about decoding how great advertising minds solved unique advertising challenges.

So, you can look at each ad, sales letter etc. as a unique solution to a unique situation. Now, what thinking processes did the writer go through to arrive at that perfect solution to the advertising problem?

I�ve got a monster swipe file. Occasionally there�s a direct swipe that�s obvious, but I use it more for personal study at levels two and three rather than something to be pulled out every-time I have a new copy assignment.

For example, I tracked a direct response insurance agency�s ads from 1915 through WW2 - 1940. What a lesson in marketing! It was like compressing 25 year advertising career into a few hours. You could watch the test ads, the breakthrough, the fatigue, the new round of tests, the new breakthrough added to the previous learnings as the ads became more sophisticated, the appeals refined, the positioning changing to circumstance, the competitors pouncing on the winners.

I think I�m going to amend this and add a fourth level…

Creative Stimulus… Studies in creativity show that if you have �oetriggers” to stimulate your thinking you will be 500% more creative. If your told to sit down and write all the uses you can think of for a brick you�ll produce X ideas. If you have at hand rich sources of stimulus: other objects, trigger words, force fit formulas, etc, you will produce 500X ideas.

So, if you�ve done the hard work, the research, the thinking, then use your list of 2000 headlines to stimulate your thinking and fire off more associations and directions etc - that�s not copying - that using stimulus as a spring board.

Well, I guess that�s all I have to say about that…

Except that in most fields of endeavor, the arts, especially, the greats first studied the masters. Michelangelo studied da Vinci. Before Picasso created his breakthroughs, he was steeped in the classics. Then he went beyond.

So, if you tell me that you�ve never once studied the great masters of copywriting and their work, I�d probably ask you not to work on my copy.
"

From the page: " Illumination through elimination is the task of compression.”

This was written by a man who penned over 50,000 ads that were less than 100 words, yet created breakthrough sales results for his retail clients. In two cases he kept the clients for 20 years. For one he placed an ad every 3 days in the NY Times for 20 straight years without repeating an ad (yes, I have these hundreds of ads in my swipe file if you had to ask).

Fletcher was adamant that if a man didn�t know how to use a small amount space, he couldn�t be trusted with a large amount of space. His feeling was that large space was a substitute for writing and advertising skill.

You can argue with that if you like, but; the man was paid $36,000 for campaigns in the middle of the depression. He knew how to make a small space pull large amounts of cash out of the market for his clients.

The reason for his emphasis on �oecompression” is he felt that by reducing the words, he could make the idea stand out even more powerfully. Words can get in the way of ideas.

Compression forces Clarity.

He would often re-write these little ads 40+ times till he found a way to articulate a motivating idea that made the cash register ring.

He said the account that taught him the most about advertising was the company mentioned above where he had to produce 3 small ads a week, every week, for 20 years. It taught him how to communicate the same idea, in different ways, in a very, very small space."