Copywriting
I recently heard this story about the great copywriter Gary Halbert⦠Near the end of his career he was quizzing a protege and said, āThe best way to get a prospectās attention is to appeal to their sense of ___________.ā The protege replied, āTheir sense of self-interest?ā Halbert said, āNo…their sense of curiosity.ā Thatās great…
Read MoreHereās something I wonder during this pandemic: Why is the local news station still broadcasting traffic reports every 30 minutes in the morning? I turn on the news, and there she is, the Traffic Reporter, standing in front of the map with all the highways and byways color coded — green for āall clear,ā yellow for āmoderate back-upsā and…
Read MoreI saw something on the TV news this morning that annoyed me. (What else is new?) Iām sharing this with you not to spread the annoyance, but rather to deliver a business lesson. The news headline: The number of asylum-seekers reaching the Mexico-US border has decreased over the last few months. The analysis: Supporters of…
Read MoreMy favorite marketing forum lit up yesterday when someone complained about Gmail putting the emails he sends into the āPromotionsā folder. Several years ago, Gmail introduced folders (ātabsā) to organize incoming email into four categories: Primary, Social, Promotions and Updates. Most marketing emails sent through third-party software land in the Promotions folder. Yesterday, an unhappy…
Read MoreMy friend Richard Terry asked me to help him with some marketing copy. Heād heard one of my presentations recently, and he thought he might benefit from my expertise. We met earlier today, and hereās what I told him⦠…Richard, you donāt need my help. I was honored he asked. I welcome new business. I…
Read MoreI was planning to send a different email to you today. …until I checked my inbox this morning and opened one of the best cold-call emails Iāve ever received. I wanted to share it with you because itās sooooo good and you can learn so much from it. It begins: āHey Tom, Curious if you’re…
Read MoreWhen I was a dumb kid, I feared my IQ would drop if I had my wisdom teeth pulled. I was over that by the time I was 19 and dating Kathy. She had her wisdom teeth pulled the summer we dated. She couldnāt stand the pain. I suggested she rinse with warm salt water.…
Read MoreThe meeting went off the rails when I asked, āHow are you going to build your email list?ā The nonprofit executive director replied, āWeāre going to borrow lists from some other nonprofits we partner with.ā āI recommend against that,ā I said. āBut we do that all the time with direct (postal) mail,ā she said. I…
Read MoreThe last time I ate a Red Delicious apple, I thought, āHmmm. āRed Delicious?ā Thatās half-true. Red? Yes. Delicious? Not so muchā?ā Bad texture. Bland taste. All beauty. No substance. How can something so pretty and shiny be so terrible? I discovered the nasty secret in thisĀ great articleĀ in The Atlantic. Reds used to be delicious.…
Read MoreBack in high school I had a basketball coach who didnāt win any spelling bees or grammar contests. Once, after we failed to run the play he called during practice, he stormed onto the court, screaming: āJeez, yous guys! Donāt you know the American language!?ā Smart-ass kids that we were, we used to mock Coach…
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