Do Prospects Leave You at The Altar?

I went to the hardware store the other day to buy some bolts and nuts…

…and I ran into a clerk whose breath stunk worse than rancid roquefort.

I needed help. But I couldn’t deal with this guy.

His halitosis overwhelmed me.

It hung like a dark cloud over Aisle 5 (bolts, nuts, etc.).

I fled the store without any hardware.

All of which reminds me of a legendary ad for Listerine:

The headline:

“Often a bridesmaid but never a bride”

The photo: An attractive young woman who looks lonely and sad — as if a potential mate just fled.

The copy:

“Edna’s case was really a pathetic one. Like every woman, her primary ambition was to marry. Most of the girls of her set were married — or about to be. Yet not one possessed more grace or charm or loveliness than she. And as her birthdays crept gradually toward that tragic thirty-mark, marriage seemed farther from her life than ever. She was often a bridesmaid but never a bride.”

Then the kicker…

“That’s the insidious thing about halitosis (unpleasant breath). You, yourself, rarely know when you have it. And even your closest friends won’t tell you…”

And on it goes to describe how Listerine prevents and cures halitosis.

That’s a brilliant ad.

It sold lots and lots of Listerine.

Sure, some of the ideas in it are cringy — like the bit about every woman’s ambition is to marry.

But keep in mind: that ad ran 100 years ago.

Don’t worry about the old-timey ideas and focus instead on the marketing brilliance.

This ad is loaded with lessons that can help you create less-boring, more captivating content so you will connect with more and better prospects and land more clients.

That’s why I inducted the ad into my…

Storytelling Hall-of-Fame.

Every month, I induct a deserving ad, sales letter, or other marketing piece into the Hall-of-Fame.

I break them down and distill the marketing lessons you can apply today.

Why bother? Because…

To master storytelling for marketing, you must study masterpieces.

I’ve taken the first five Hall of Fame inductees and packaged them in a short, easy-to-read e-book.

I break down each ad and share the lessons they reveal — about how draw prospects in, write more captivating headlines, build stronger bonds with prospects, and sell more.

Some of the ads are old ones (like the Listerine ad).

Others are modern (like my favorite Apple ad — a rare one that most people haven’t seen).

Get the Hall of Fame ads here. The e-book is free.