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Top Marketers Say This is More Important Than Anything

By Tom Ruwitch

I recently heard this story about the great copywriter Gary Halbert… Near the end of his career he was quizzing a protege and said, ā€œThe best way to get a prospect’s attention is to appeal to their sense of ___________.ā€ The protege replied, ā€œTheir sense of self-interest?ā€ Halbert said, ā€œNo…their sense of curiosity.ā€ That’s great…

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Why Does She Still Do THIS?

By Tom Ruwitch

Here’s 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 ā€œall clear,ā€ yellow for ā€œmoderate back-upsā€ and…

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Guessing VS Explaining With Data

By Tom Ruwitch

I saw something on the TV news this morning that annoyed me. (What else is new?) I’m 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…

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Fearing Gmail Promotions

By Tom Ruwitch

My favorite marketing forum lit up yesterday when someone complained about Gmail putting the emails he sends into the ā€œPromotionsā€ folder. Several years ago, Gmail introduced folders (ā€œtabsā€) 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…

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Capture a Prospect’s Imagination

By Tom Ruwitch

My friend Richard Terry asked me to help him with some marketing copy. He’d heard one of my presentations recently, and he thought he might benefit from my expertise. We met earlier today, and here’s what I told him… …Richard, you don’t need my help. I was honored he asked. I welcome new business. I…

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Great Cold-Call Email

By Tom Ruwitch

I 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 I’ve ever received. I wanted to share it with you because it’s sooooo good and you can learn so much from it. It begins: ā€œHey Tom, Curious if you’re…

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Wisdom Teeth Dummy

By Tom Ruwitch

When 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 couldn’t stand the pain. I suggested she rinse with warm salt water.…

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Borrowing Email Lists Greitens Etc.

By Tom Ruwitch

The meeting went off the rails when I asked, ā€œHow are you going to build your email list?ā€ The nonprofit executive director replied, ā€œWe’re going to borrow lists from some other nonprofits we partner with.ā€ ā€œI recommend against that,ā€ I said. ā€œBut we do that all the time with direct (postal) mail,ā€ she said. I…

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Red Delicious Apple

By Tom Ruwitch

The last time I ate a Red Delicious apple, I thought, ā€œHmmm. ā€˜Red Delicious?’ That’s half-true. Red? Yes. Delicious? Not so much’?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.…

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Dump the Grammar Guide

By Tom Ruwitch

Back in high school I had a basketball coach who didn’t 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: ā€œJeez, yous guys! Don’t you know the American language!?ā€ Smart-ass kids that we were, we used to mock Coach…

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