Tom Ruwitch

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How to Create Great Content with Less Effort and Cost

By Tom Ruwitch

For those of you who would like to produce good, business-building content… …with less time-consuming, costly effort… …here’s a story for you.  On Wednesday, I was one of the speakers at an online networking event.  The guy who organized the event, called me a few weeks in advance, and asked for a presentation topic.  Earlier…

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The Critical Thing to Do BEFORE You Storm The Castle

By Tom Ruwitch

When he was a young college student, my wife’s great-great-grandfather joined the revolution. He and his pals tried to overthrow the German government. The year was 1833, and young Adolph Wislizenus “stormed the castle” with a band of student revolutionaries in Frankfurt. Their plan: Sneak-attack a few arsenals. Capture the soldiers. Take the guns. Arm…

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The Salty Popcorn Marketing Method

By Tom Ruwitch

I miss movie theater popcorn. A large bucket. Plenty of salt. None of that fake butter. On a good day — especially if my wife grabs a few handfuls from the first bucket — I go for the free refill. Ahhh…such fond pre-pandemic memories. When the movie theaters reopen, I’ll rush back… …not because I…

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How a Master Copywriter Got the Scoop on His Target Market

By Tom Ruwitch

I recently heard this interesting tidbit about Eugene Schwartz, a genius copywriter who penned ads that generated massive sales: He had a secret way to get the scoop on his target market… He would go to the theater to see all the hit movies… …and he would see the blockbusters TWICE. Why?  Because if you’re…

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Native American Warriors Reveal Ancient Marketing Secret

By Tom Ruwitch

I recently heard this wild story about Native American warriors. Two tribes face off on the battlefield — maybe the Sioux on one side, the Crow on the other. They shout taunts at each other. Then a brave young warrior from one side gallops forward on his pinto, charging at the enemy… …not to kill…

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This Tactic Will Land You in the “Thanks, But No Thanks” File

By Tom Ruwitch

My pal Harry forwarded to me a  how-not-to-do-it sales email he received the other day.  He called it “fertile material” for the emails I send.  He got that right.  The email Harry forwarded was from a design firm in Arizona that was fishing for business. The email came from Dave, the firm’s principal.  “Hi Harry,” Dave wrote.…

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The Story Behind One of the Greatest Ads Ever

By Tom Ruwitch

In 1925, John Caples was a rookie copywriter working on an ad for home-study piano courses. He drafted several headlines that he shared with his boss. Here are a few: “Can you play the piano? Neither could I three months ago?” “They laughed when I sat down at the piano. But when I started to…

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The Insanity of the Tactics-First Crowd

By Tom Ruwitch

A desperate marketer posted a sad-sack story last week on a public forum. He was trying to reach prospects in a niche market… …and he was getting ZERO response. Facebook Ads? No-go. LinkedIn messages? Zip? Search advertising? Nada. So he asked the internet for help… …and the internet responded with a bunch of INSANITY. First, I’ll…

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Understand This and Your Marketing Will Be Better

By Tom Ruwitch

I read something cool this morning. It comes from a book called Breakthrough Advertising, by Eugene Schwartz. He was one of the great direct response copywriters of the twentieth century. Breakthrough Advertising is a Bible for those who want to write copy that works. At the beginning of Chapter Seven, Schwartz writes… “…Advertising is the literature of…

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How a Nine-Word Story Sold Millions

By Tom Ruwitch

One of the great business stories of all time is also one of the shortest. Just nine words. Here it is: You can pay me now… …or pay me later. If you watched television in the 70s, you couldn’t miss those ads for Fram oil filters. The broken car. The expensive repair. The mechanic saying…

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